Studies estimate 40% of people with type 1 diabetes have low levels of pancreatic elastase.
Listened to Dana M Lewis last night (30/05/22) on #diabeteschat. Where she spoke about not only having Type 1 diabetes but also has EPI Exocrine pancreatic insufficiency - a chronic inflammatory disease of the pancreas.
From her website's page "What You Should Know About Exocrine Pancreatic Insufficiency (EPI) or Pancreatic Exoc rine Insufficiency (PEI)" Dana says "EPI is a thing, and it's very common in humans who have cystic fibrosis; pancreas-related surgeries or pancreatic cancer; and there is also a known correlation with people with type 1 diabetes or with celiac disease."
"I did more research and found that variousstudiesestimate 40% of people with type 1 diabetes have low levels of pancreatic elastase, which is a proxy for determining if you have insufficient enzymes being produced by your pancreas to help you digest your food. The causal mechanism is unclear, so they don't know whether it's just a 'complication' and side effect of diabetes and the pancreas no longer producing insulin, or if there is something else going on".
"Given the ties to diabetes and celiac, I reached out to my GI doctor again in December 2021 and asked if I should get my pancreatic elastase levels tested to check for exocrine pancreatic insufficiency (EPI), given that my symptoms matching the textbook definition and my risk factors of diabetes and celiac. He said sure, sent in the lab request, and I got the lab work done. My results are on the borderline of 'moderate' insufficiency, and given my very obvious and long-standing symptoms, and given my GI doc said there would be no harm from trying, I start taking pancreatic enzyme replacement therapy (called PERT). Basically, this means I swallow a pill that contains enzymes with the first bite of food that I eat, and the enzymes help me better digest the food I am eating".