Beware of tropical pancreatitis!

CHENNAI: Most often when your child has a severe bout of diarrhoea and has a prolonged stomach ache, both you and your doctor might prescribe constipation pills. But be warned, if it persists, it could be a case of tropical pancreatitis, say diabetologists. Speaking at the Indo-US Symposium on Pancreas, organised in the city recently, Dr TS Chandrasekar, Chairman - Medindia Hospitals, said that the awareness about this tropical disease was very low in rural pockets. “The incidence of tropical pancreatitis is very high in South India, particularly in Kerala,” he said. The reason depends on environmental factors and, rather interestingly, “tapioca” consumed in large quantites on the west coast.The implications of this condition, the cause of which is still being researched, are an acute inflammation of the pancreas that can lead to high levels of diabetes and even pancreatic cancer. “Normally, it manifests itself at ages 8-9, but as the age progresses, it can even be fatal,” he warns.  Dr C S Pitchumoni, Chief of Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Clinical Nutrition, Saint Peter’s University Hospital, New Jersey, USA, was awarded the MDRF lifetime achievement award for presenting the first paper on chronic pancreatitis in 1962. He also said that it was “something of a mystery” and has always been linked to malnutrition.The only way to stay safe? Constant medical and cancer surveillance and a low calorie and high calcium diet, says Dr Chandrasekar. “Almost 3-5 per cent of all chronic pancreatic disorder reports end up being tropical,” he reveals.The symposium was organised jointly by the Madras Diabetic Research Foundation and Medindia Hospitals. It was inaugurated by US Consul General Jeniffer McIntyre. Dr V Mohan was conferred the president’s charge of the Research Society for the Study of Diabetes in India.