Animations

This animation describes the role and anatomy of the healthy pancreas, as well as its exocrine and endocrine functions.

This animation describes the causes, symptoms, and factors in the development of acute pancreatitis, as well as tools and tests used to diagnose the disease.

This animation describes the causes, symptoms, and factors in the development of chronic pancreatitis, as well as tools and tests used to diagnose the disease.

This animation focuses on exocrine pancreatic insufficiency, or EPI, which occurs when the pancreas becomes damaged and is no longer able to produce enough digestive enzymes to properly digest food.

This animation describes the goals of management and treatment of Acute Pancreatitis and how patients can take an active role in managing the disease.

This animation describes the goals of management and treatment of chronic pancreatitis.

The focus of this animation are the signs, symptoms and risk factors of developing pancreatic cancer.

This animation describes pathophysiology, diagnosis and staging of pancreatic cancer.

This animation focuses on two approaches in the treatment of pancreatic cancer: curative and non-curative (palliative), as well as its long-term outcomes.

This animation explains what clinical trials are, how they are conducted, and why they are important for patients with diseases like pancreatic cancer. The animation also provides an overview of study design, eligibility criteria, informed consent, safeguards, different phases of clinical trials, and the potential benefits and potential risks of participation.

This animation describes Endoscopic Retrograde Cholangiopancreatography (ERCP), which is an endoscopic procedure used to examine and treat a specific finding within either the pancreatic duct or biliary tree (bile duct). This procedure helps your doctor make critical decisions concerning your health.

This animation describes Endoscopic Ultrasound-Guided Fine-Needle Aspiration (EUS-FNA), an endoscopic procedure used to obtain detailed images of the digestive tract, including the pancreas and surrounding abdominal organs and tissue samples for analysis. This procedure helps your doctor to diagnose, stage, or even rule out the presence of pancreatic disease or cancer, to determine the best course of treatment.

This animation describes pancreatic enzyme replacement therapy (PERT) and it’s role and benefit for patients who have exocrine pancreatic insufficiency (EPI). The animation provides an overview of the role of pancreatic enzymes in food digestion, the different types of PERT medications that are currently available, and provides tips for dosing and timing of PERT. For the majority of patients taking PERT, there is a significant improvement of symptoms, nutritional status, and overall quality of life.

This animation focuses on exocrine pancreatic insufficiency, or EPI, which occurs when the pancreas becomes damaged and is no longer able to produce enough digestive enzymes to properly digest food.

Chronic pancreatitis is a long-term, inflammatory disease that causes progressive replacement of normal pancreatic tissue into scar tissue. Its causes are numerous, and as disease progresses the pancreas becomes inflamed and damaged. There is loss of ability to produce enzymes needed for normal digestive processes which cause maldigestion, malabsorption and malnutrition. Persons with chronic pancreatitis should have a nutritional assessment and follow-up by a registered dietitian. A dietitian will assess your nutritional status and recommend a good nutrition plan as well as monitor your progress to see how well your nutrition plan and changes are helping your body. A good diet, good hydration, the right nutritional supplements and when necessary, pancreatic enzymes treatments are important in managing your nutrition in chronic pancreatitis.

In chronic pancreatitis good nutrition has many benefits. It helps reduce the risk of malnutrition and diseases such as osteoporosis, diabetes, muscle wasting, weight loss and other problems with their complications. Your dietitian will do a full assessment with blood tests and conduct a stool examination to determine your nutrition status and personal treatment plan. You may also require pancreatic enzyme replacement therapy (PERT) which is personalized to your body’s nutrition needs. PERT can also cause side-effects such as constipation and the enzyme replacement may need adjustment. Your treatment plan will need monitoring. Some persons with chronic pancreatitis need pain medication. Working with your doctor and dietitian provides the best outcomes.

This animation describes the major indications for pancreatic surgery, as well as the goals, benefits and risks. The animation provides an overview of the most commonly performed pancreatic surgeries, such as a Whipple procedure, distal pancreatectomy, and total pancreatectomy. Potential outcomes following surgery, which can be routinely treated and effectively managed, are also discussed.

This animation will help you understand what acute pancreatitis is, including its causes, symptoms, how it is diagnosed, and what to expect. It also describes how you can stay as healthy as possible to stop acute pancreatitis from happening again.

This animation will help you understand what chronic pancreatitis is, including its causes, symptoms, how it is diagnosed, and what to expect. It also describes the complications that can result from chronic pancreatitis, as well as various treatments, surgical procedures, and how to stay as healthy as possible to help prevent any symptoms from worsening.

This animation will help you to understand and prepare for pancreatic surgery. It describes what to expect before, during and after surgery. Pancreatic surgery can involve doctors removing a part or all of your pancreas from your body. It will take time to get better after your surgery, but having pancreatic surgery can help you begin to feel better sooner and go back to enjoying everyday activities.

This animation will help you understand what Familial Chylomicronemia Syndrome (FCS) is, including the causes, symptoms, and the high risk for acute pancreatitis. Living with FCS can be very stressful, and this animation also provides an overview of what people with FCS can do to manage their condition – following a very low-fat diet and as well as other tips. It also briefly describes the risks that women with FCS face if they become pregnant.

This animation provides an overview of how Familial Chylomicronemia Syndrome (FCS) is diagnosed. Doctors look for 3 things when diagnosing FCS: a blood test to measure triglyceride levels, a patient’s response to drugs that lower triglyceride levels, and a history of frequent episodes of abdominal pain or pancreatitis. This animation also describes the gene changes associated with FCS, genetic testing, the challenges of living with FCS, and clinical trials for new drug treatments.

This animation provides practical tips and positive coping strategies for caregivers to keep in mind when caring for a person with a disease of the pancreas, such as pancreatitis or pancreatic cancer. Being a caregiver can be deeply rewarding. But it can also be very stressful, creating burdens and even health problems for you. Watch this animation to learn how you can stay healthy and manage the stress that comes with caring for someone else. These actions will help you be an effective caregiver for a longer period of time.