It is a "silent," solid organ positioned behind the stomach in the upper part of the abdomen.

The body's main digestive

organ, the pancreas is composed of different cells that serve distinct functions. Some cells produce digestive "juices" or
enzymes, while the others produce hormones. The pancreatic enzymes break down the three types of nutritional elements:
protease digests proteins; lipase digests fat; and amylase digests carbohydrates. Once manufactured, the digestive enzymes
empty into channels (ducts), eventually draining into the first part of the small intestine, called the duodenum. Food that
passes through the duodenum stimulates the pancreas to produce digestive enzymes. The most important hormone the
pancreas produces is insulin, which controls the amount of glucose in our bloodstream. When an insufficient amount of
insulin is secreted, the body's cells are unable to take in glucose, which raises glucose levels in the bloodstream and may
ultimately lead to diabetes (though it is not the principal cause of diabetes). In addition to insulin, the pancreas makes other
hormones, all of which pass into the blood that flows through the organ (not through the ducts used by the enzymes).
Enzymes are proteins that catalyze (i.e., increase the rates of) chemical reactions.[1][2] In enzymatic reactions, the molecules
at the beginning of the process are called substrates, and the enzyme converts them into different molecules, called the
products. Almost all processes in a biological cell need enzymes to occur at significant rates. Since enzymes are selective
for their substrates and speed up only a few reactions from among many possibilities, the set of enzymes made in a cell
determines which metabolic pathways occur in that cell.
Like all catalysts, enzymes work by lowering the activation energy (Ea‡) for a reaction, thus dramatically increasing the rate
of the reaction. Most enzyme reaction rates are millions of times faster than those of comparable un-catalyzed reactions. As
with all catalysts, enzymes are not consumed by the reactions they catalyze, nor do they alter the equilibrium of these
reactions. However, enzymes do differ from most other catalysts by being much more specific. Enzymes are known to
catalyze about 4,000 biochemical reactions.[3] A few RNA molecules called ribozymes also catalyze reactions, with an
important example being some parts of the ribosome.[4][5] Synthetic molecules called artificial enzymes also display
enzyme-like catalysis.[6]
Enzyme activity can be affected by other molecules. Inhibitors are molecules that decrease enzyme activity; activators are
molecules that increase activity. Many drugs and poisons are enzyme inhibitors. Activity is also affected by temperature,
chemical environment (e.g., pH), and the concentration of substrate. Some enzymes are used commercially, for example, in
the synthesis of antibiotics. In addition, some household products use enzymes to speed up biochemical reactions (e.g.,
enzymes in biological washing powders break down protein or fat stains on clothes; enzymes in meat tenderizers break
down proteins, making the
meat