What is pancreatitis?
Many individuals in the medical community believe there to be an association with the estrogen in hormone-based birth controls, such as Yaz, and an increase in blood levels of triglycerides that can cause pancreatitis in patients that take these oral contraceptives. There is a belief that estrogen may actually have a toxic effect within the pancreas itself.
Yaz pancreatitis is an inflammation of the pancreas. The pancreas is a large gland behind the stomach and near to the duodenum (the beginning of the small intestine). The primary job of the pancreas is to secrete digestive fluids, or enzymes, into the duodenum, through a tube called the pancreatic duct. Pancreatic enzymes mix with bile – a fluid produced in the liver and stored in the gallbladder – to digest food. The pancreas' secondary job is to also release the hormones insulin and glucagon into the bloodstream. These hormones help regulate the body's glucose amounts from food intake.
Digestive enzymes, secreted by the pancreas, typically do not become active until they reach the small intestine. However, when the pancreas becomes inflamed, the enzymes within will attack and damage the tissues that produce them.
Pancreatitis could be acute or chronic, but either form is serious and could lead to complications. In extreme cases bleeding, infection and permanent tissue damage could occur.
A diagnosis can be made with:
•    Abdominal ultrasound
•    Computerized tomography scan (CT)
•    Endoscopic ultrasound (EUS)
•    Magnetic resonance cholangiopancreatography (MRCP)
If you have any questions or fears after developing pancreatitis, from taking the contraceptive Yaz, be sure to contact an attorney to file a law suit and get the fair treatment and justice you are deserved.