What are the causes of pancreas atrophy?

We present the unusual case of a 20-year-old man being diagnosed with cystic fibrosis after he was incidentally noted to have an atrophic pancreas on magnetic resonance cholangiopancreatography. He had no sign of chronic pancreatitis or symptoms of exocrine pancreatic insufficiency. read more

The most common causes of atrophy of the pancreas are obesity and chronic diabetes. Diabetics can develop gastroparesis, which causes the digestion to slow. This can cause nausea, belching, and constipation, which could explain the symptoms you describe. read more

Obesity and hyperlipidemia might cause this. Or previous abdominal surgery in the area of the pancreas that caused scarring. But there is a small subcategory that is idiopathic (unknown cause). If you are healthy, there is a good possibility that the CT-scan was overread, and your pancreas is normal and just small. read more

2 causes: Atrophy of the pancreas is usually caused by autoimmune destruction which may inherited or, if acquired, by repeated injury either from alcohol or recurrent pancreatitis from gall stones. Atherosclerosis is a disease of aging but diabetes (which results from an atrophied pancreas) is a major risk factor as is smoking and high blood pressure. read more