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Mayo Clinic study links small amounts of alcohol to accelerated pancreatitis

Researchers had hypothesized that patients who drank less than 50 grams of alcohol per day would have slower progression of disease than those who consumed greater amounts of alcohol. With those over age 35 and older, they found that even less than 50 grams of alcohol induced earlier development of the disease. Based on their findings, the researchers now believe that a common underlying genetic defect exists for the basis of most chronic pancreatitis.

Researchers reviewed records of 372 patients with chronic pancreatitis and compared them in four groups. They obtained information on sex, age, signs and symptoms (pain severity, calcification, endocrine and exocrine insufficiency), complications, surgery and survival from medical records, physical examinations, questionnaires, death certificates or autopsy reports.

In an accompanying editorial, Phillip Toskes, M.D., of the University of Florida College of Medicine at Gainesville, FL writes: "The frequency of pain was significantly associated with an increasing intake of alcohol.

This has implications for clinicians because many clinicians advise patients with idiopathic nonalcoholic chronic pancreatitis that moderate amounts of alcohol will not exacerbate their disease."

The Mayo Clinic research was led by Eugene DiMagno, M.D., a Mayo Clinic gastroenterologist. Other researchers included: Mark Lankisch, M.D., now at Heinrich-Heine-University, Duesseldorf, Germany; Mami Imoto, M.D., now at Kyoto Prefectural University of Medicine, Kyoto, Japan; Peter Layer, M.D., and Israelitisches Krankenhaus, now at University of Hamburg Academic Hospital, Hamburg, Germany. >

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