Meet Our Provider
About Our Gastroenterology Clinic
The CLS Health gastroenterology team treats patients from throughout Houston, TX. We listen to your concerns and deliver personalized care.
We have extensive experience treating all gastrointestinal and liver diseases, including inflammatory bowel disease, celiac disease, gastroinestinal malignancy including colon cancer, esophageal disease, viral hepatitis, irritable bowel syndrome, and GERD.
Conditions Treated
Dr. Zeid Karadsheh, MD is skilled in diagnosing and treating all digestive disorders, such as:
- Abdominal Pain
- Barrett’s Esophagus
- Biliary Disease
- Celiac Disease
- Chronic Liver Disease
- Chronic Pancreatitis
- Colon Cancer
- Colon Polyps
- Constipation
- Crohn’s Disease
- Diarrhea
- Diverticulosis and Diverticulitis
- Dysphagia
- Eosinophilis Esophagitis (EoE)
- Esophageal Disorders and Disease
- Fecal Incontinence
- Food Allergy and Intolerance
- Gallbladder Disease
- Gastrointestinal Cancer Syndrome
- Gastroparesis
- GERD/heartburn
- GO Strictures
- Hemorrhoids
- Hepatitis B
- Hepatitis C
- Irritable Bowel Syndrome
- Nonalcoholic Fatty Liver Disease
- Ulcerative Colitis
- Ulcers
Procedures Performed
Dr. Zeid Karadsheh, MD is skilled in performing procedures, such as:
- Colonoscopy
- Upper Endoscopy (EGD)
- ERCP
- Endoscopic Ultrasound (EUS)
- Capsule Endoscopy
- Infusion Therapy for Inflammatory Bowel Disease
- Esophageal Function and pH Testing
- FibroScan
- Dietician Services
- Flexible Sigmoidoscopy
Gastroenterology Blog
Pancreatitis is an inflammation of the pancreas that can be divided into acute or chronic pancreatitis. The pancreas is a large gland that is located behind the stomach and has two main functions: 1- secreting enzymes into the digestive tract to help digest and breakdown food. 2- releasing hormones such as insulin and glucagon that help the body maintain adequate glucose level and energy metabolism.
When the pancreas gets inflamed, it is thought to be related to pancreatic enzymes activation that in normal individuals happen mainly in the small intestines. However, in patients with acute pancreatitis, it usually happens prematurely in the pancreas.
What can cause inflammation of the pancreas?
The two most common causes of acute pancreatitis are alcohol abuse and gall bladder stones, which account for 75% of cases in the United States. Typically, in alcohol-induced acute pancreatitis, it requires large amount of alcohol intake over an extended period of time. In gall bladder pancreatitis, the stone travels from the gall bladder into the bile duct, where they block the opening that drains the common bile duct and pancreatic duct (ampulla). This leads to reflux of the enzymes back to the pancreas, which directly damages the pancreas. Other less common causes include infections, medications, high levels of calcium, triglycerides and pancreatic cancer. Other common cause is post-ERCP pancreatitis, which occurs in about 7% of patients undergoing a procedure called ERCP that treat and remove biliary tree stones or strictures. In many patients no cause is found.
What are the symptoms of pancreatitis?
The main symptoms of acute pancreatitis include abdominal pain, nausea and vomiting. The pain is usually severe in the upper side of the abdomen that in many patients feel like going through to the back. Other symptoms that may occur with pancreatitis include clay-colored stool, yellowish discoloration of the skin (jaundice). Those mainly happen with gall stone pancreatitis.
What kind of tests should I expect to get?
To test for acute pancreatitis, your doctors will order multiple blood tests to check for the enzymes that are secreted by the pancreas. Those include amylase and lipase, which are elevated in most patients with acute pancreatitis. Other tests that also help diagnosing acute pancreatitis and help identifying the underlying cause include abdominal ultrasound and CT scan of the abdomen. Other tests depending on your history may include triglyceride level and calcium level.
How can doctors treat pancreatitis?
The treatment of pancreatitis generally involves NPO (nothing by mouth) to rest the pancreas, intravenous fluids and medications for vomiting and pain. We now recommend starting clear liquid diet or low fat diet as soon as patients are able to eat. Most patients improve, however depending on certain criteria; high-risk patients may develop complications. Some of those complications can be life threatening including respiratory failure, kidney failure and infections. Other complications can be local around the pancreas and include abscess or pseudocyst. Pseudocyst often times is asymptomatic and can regress on it’s own.
What is chronic pancreatitis?
Chronic pancreatitis develops after multiple attacks of acute pancreatitis. Most patients are chronic heavy alcohol drinkers. The hallmark of chronic pancreatitis is pain. The pancreas is no longer able to secrete enzymes that digest food and the body is unable to digest fat. Diabetes is a complication of chronic pancreatitis due to scaring and loss of cells that produce insulin. Treatment of chronic pancreatitis is usually with pain medications and pancreatic enzymes supplement. Enzymes are usually taken right before meals and help digest fat. Small frequent low-fat meal diet is usually advised for patients.
About the author:
Dr. Zeid Karadshah is a gastroenterologist with advanced endoscopy training at CLS Health. He specializes in digestive system diseases and performs multiple procedures including upper endoscopy, colonoscopy, endoscopic ultrasound (EUS) and endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography (ERCP)