An overview of my obscure medical condition.

I think I did at one point, but I cant find it.
So heres a quick explaination:

It starts with a pancreatic enzyme called lipase. In case you dont want to read the wiki link, human pancreatic lipase (HPL) is responsible for breaking down fats in the digestive system.

For whatever reason, from time to time, without warning, my pancreas stops producing HPL. When that happens, fats build up in my blood.

As the fats build up, the liver and pancreas become clogged with them, causing them to inflame.

As they inflame, they stop producing other enzymes and hormones, most importantly, the pancreas stops producing insulin, which is the hormone that the body uses to consume glucose (sugar) in the blood.

When the insulin production stops, then my body starts building up sugar as well, which causes a reaction that is basically like type 1 diabetes. Sugar spikes, which causes futher irritation to the internal organs.
As the sugar continues to build up, and my body starts to go into Diabetic ketoacidosis (DKA) my kidneys go into overdrive to try and flush out the excess glucose in my blood, causing urine output to increase, which in turn dehydrates me.
As I get more and more dehydrated, the concentrations of both sugar and fat in my body increase, as the fluid levels decrease.
That, in turn causes internal organs to shut down, and in an extreme case, the tissue in the organs can actually die.

Now. We have no explanation to why this occurs. We think the condition might be an inherited condition, or genetic.
There is no cure.
The only things to do to treat it, is for me to take lipid blockers and triglyceride lowering medication the rest of my life.
Also, we’re experimenting with omega 3’s to stimulate lipase production, and we may try supplements to stimulate insulin production or insulin efficiency as well.

Now, during the event of a crash, the primary treatment is massive fluid replacement. One or two IV’s wide open, putting as much fluid in me as my body will take. Generally, i’ll take 6 or 7 liters of fluid via IV within the first few hours. This reverses the dehydration, and starts to reverse the DKA. In addition, morphine for the pain, generally something for the nausea, and electrolytes like potassium and magnesium to replace the lost fluids as well. Usually insulin is required for a few days as my body adjusts to normal output.

This entry was posted on 13. March 2010 at 12:48 and is filed under Written Entries. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response or trackback from your own site.