34. What is the function of pancreas?
Located under the liver, pancreas is a gland which plays an
important role in the digestive system of the body.
It produces a mixture of digestive enzymes that pass through a short
duct into the duodenum, just below the stomach. These enzymes are
alkaline in nature and neutralize the stomach acid. The pancreatic
juice is secreted when the pancreas is stimulated by a hormone called
secretin. Apart from being associated with the digestive system,
pancreas produces the hormones insulin and glucagon.
These hormones are secreted from it's cells known as islets of
Langerhans and control the glucose (sugar) level in the blood.
Insulin makes the glucose, produced from the digestion, to be stored
in the liver. Glucagon has an opposite effect and makes glucose
release when the body needs energy.
