On Mar 11, 7:28 am, suzee <suz...@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> wrote after I told her
that Lexie informed the viewers that the Pancreas is a gland:
> I know she did, but I believe it really is an organ. It's part of the
> endocrine system... Didn't Lexie graduate from the overnight school of
medicine anyway...?
>
>
>
****Even if you don't like/appreciate the fact that Suzee and I often
do not see eye to eye, this is about Bo's disease on the show and it's
really QUITE fascinating, in my humble opinion. I learned stuff I had
no idea about which, in turn, will help us, as viewers to understand
WHY Bo's character could die even though he does not have Pancreatic
*CANCER* like his sister Isabella Toscano did.****
No, actually it's a MIXED exocrine and endocrine gland, Suzee. Don't
make fun of Lexie or the writers until you've looked at the background
behind WHY the writers would have her say such a thing, ok? She called
it a gland for a *reason* and she downplayed the fact that it's an
organ because it's so very different from various other organs in the
body, thus making it so important to Bo's survival. The pancreas is
super cool. It's like your BRAIN and it's got different lobes. They
operate different functions, yet without all of them working
accordingly EVERYTHING could shut down. In fact, if you have Acute
Pancreatitis, the lytic enzymes within can DIGEST the entire pancreas
all together! Very amazing, but indeed sad.
I checked it out and it's indeed fascinating.....It's a lobulated
organ where different parts perform different functions. It's also a
gland that secretes hormones and insulin. It performs exocrine AND
endocrine functions, but ACTUALLY, Suzee, the VAST MAJORITY of the
clusters of cells (also called acini) in the pancreas actually perform
EXOCRINE functions. Only a few perform endocrine functions and they
are referred to as the Exocrine Islets of Langerhans . There's a
longitudal section and a smaller cross section that perform exocrine
funcitions. These groupings of cells are fewer and further between
within the pancreas and they look sort of like a river and a little
creek within the mess of the other cells.
The majority of the cells within the pancreas perform ENDOCRINE
functions because they secrete fluid into ducts, which doesn't occur
with the endocrine cells. The exocrine cells don't secrete fluids.
There are alpha cells and beta cells. The alpha cells secrete, the
beta cells do not. The alpha cells are far more plentiful and have a
darker pink "stain" to them because of it. In fact, the small amount
of EXOCRINE cells don't even cluster themselves into acini (which are
like little clustered "posses" of cells, if you will...) at all.
They're long, sort of like chicken strips or french fries if they were
placed on a plate with corn or rice all around it. The endocrine cells
have strings of cappalaries going through them, while the endocrine
ones do not. The endocrine ones produce hormones.
In Bo's situation on the show, if his Pancreas quits producing certain
enzymes that are necessary for him to digest his food, he will die. He
could *ALSO* wind up with severe Diabetes. That was why even though
Lexie told him that the cells in his pancreas are not cancerous, he's
still SEVERELY at risk because the pancreas performs so many other
functions and it supports the liver, as well. The cells don't have to
be cancerous in order for the pancreas to still shut down completely.
I found all of this out in less than 15 minutes off a doctor from UC
SanFrancisco's website. He has a PhD. I think that before you diss on
the writers and the characters on the show, Suzee, that you should
research a little of what you're saying in the first place. The
writers have GOT to know that some of the people watching the show
have a medical background, after all. The endocrine functions are
actually FEW and FAR between in the pancreas compared to the exocrine
functions, yet there you were defending the endocrine part of it and
dissing on Lexie.
The whole endocrine system is a series of freakin' glands, Suzee, so
you trying to argue "It's an organ! It's an organ! And it's part of
the Endocrine System, in fact, Spangles! It's an organ!" is pointless.
It's a *lobular* organ that is vastly different than the majority of
all of the other organs in the whole entire body. The heart, which is
of dire importance to survival, of course, isn't even divided in such
a complexly delicate way, really, it's divided into chambers, sort of
like a cow's stomach, except the cow's got even more chambers
involved. The pancreas is a *VERY* delicate gland that's divided up
like the brain is: into lobes. All OVER the web the GLANDULAR
functions of the pancreas are highlighted and the fact that it's an
organ is downplayed, Suzee, because of what it secretes and because it
is hidden behind various other organs.
The hormone producing *ENDOCRINE* cells only compose between 1 and 2%
of the entire pancreas, (LOL!!!!) Suzee, so WHY did you even BOTHER to
argue that point? Look up Islets of Langerhans and you'll see.( That
doesn't mean the endocrine functions are unimportant, of course,
because they are, but you didn't even bother to look up the exocrine
ones and THAT's why Lexie has stressed the word *Gland* so many times
this week and last over the word *Organ*.) Endocrine cells have no
ducts, Suzee. They're vascular and are used for storage, not
secretion.
<<Shaking my head at you....I'm SO tired of you saying things to me
and to Ice and/or to others with such a matter of fact School Marm
attitude and being either wrong or astronomically misguided. It's not
just frustrating any longer, it's DISAPPOINTING, Suzee...>>
S*Babykins
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