Sweetbread. The thymus gland (known as throat sweetbread) and the pancreas (stomach sweetbread), especially of the calf and lamb (although beef sweetbreads are sometimes eaten), are considered...

Hyperinsulinism, presence in the system of an above-normal amount of insulin, the substance secreted by the pancreas and needed by the body to utilize sugar. An increased amount of insulin in ...

Pancreatic juice, secretions of the exocrine portion of the pancreas into the small intestine. The juice contains a number of important digestive enzymes, including trypsin, chymotrypsin, carb...

Glucagon, hormone secreted by the α cells of the islets of Langerhans, specific groups of cells in the pancreas. It tends to counteract the action of insulin, i.e., it raises the concentration...

Insulin, hormone secreted by the ß cells of the islets of Langerhans, specific groups of cells in the pancreas. Insufficiency of insulin in the body results in diabetes. Insulin was one of the...

Diabetes or diabetes mellitus, chronic disorder of glucose (sugar) metabolism caused by inadequate production or use of insulin, a hormone produced in specialized cells (beta cells in the isle...

Chymotrypsin, proteolytic, or protein-digesting, enzyme active in the mammalian intestinal tract. It catalyzes the hydrolysis of proteins, degrading them into smaller molecules called peptides...

Cohnheim, Julius, 1839–84, German experimental histologist and pathologist. In a relatively brief life Cohnheim made a series of remarkable contributions to the rapidly developing science of p...

Abdomen, in humans and other vertebrates, portion of the trunk between the diaphragm and lower pelvis. In humans the wall of the abdomen is a muscular structure covered by fascia, fat, and ski...

Banting, Sir Frederick Grant, 1891–1941, Canadian physician, M.D. Univ. of Toronto, 1922. From 1923 he was professor of medical research at Toronto. Working with C. H. Best under the direction...