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Pancreas Research Paper

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The pancreas is a very important organ in our body, and Weird Al seems to agree since he wrote a whole song about it. The pancreas performs many necessary functions that the body needs to keep the cycle of life going. This organ is considered both endocrine and exocrine because it performs different functions pertaining to each category. The song refers to the pancreas as secreting enzymes and hormones, and metabolizing carbohydrates, both which are endocrine and exocrine functions respectively. First we will discuss the endocrine function of the pancreas and why it is important. This function is carried out by the islets of Langerhans (Chapter 18, Figure 18.27a). These groups of cells secrete insulin and glucagon into the blood to maintain

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