Pancreatitis Researchers Must Look Elsewhere for Causes.

http://insciences.org/article.php?article_id=5608
Link Between Pancreatitis and Alcohol Use Not as Strong as Expected, SLU Researcher Finds -

In an NIH-funded study published in the June 8 issue of Archives of Internal Medicine, a JAMA/Archives journal, researchers examined risk factors for pancreatitis, looking specifically at the connection to alcohol and tobacco use. Investigators, including a Saint Louis University professor of internal medicine, were surprised that the relationship between alcohol consumption and pancreatitis was far less than expected.

Frank Burton, M.D.
Inflammation of the pancreas, known as pancreatitis, affects 80,000 to 100,000 Americans each year. The main symptoms of pancreatitis are pain in the upper abdomen, nausea, vomiting, fever and sweating. Over time, pancreatitis can lead to complications including digestive problems, diabetes and pancreatic cancer.

"These research findings dispute the notion that alcohol use accounts for around 80 percent of pancreatitis cases, as previously believed," said Frank Burton, M.D., professor of internal medicine at Saint Louis University School of Medicine and one of the study authors. "In fact, alcohol's contribution to pancreatitis appears to be much lower."

One thousand patients with pancreatitis were enrolled in the study along with 695 healthy patients, who served as a control group. Researchers found that only 38.4 percent of men and 11 percent of women with chronic pancreatitis were very heavy drinkers, a level much lower than anticipated.

Smoking, however, was found to be a significant risk factor for pancreatitis, as was very heavy drinking, defined as five or more drinks a day. The study also demonstrated that the combination of smoking and alcohol is a risk factor for the condition.

"Interestingly, this study suggested that other causes, such as environmental or genetic factors, contributed to developing chronic pancreatitis in the large group who did not have a history of heavy alcohol use," said Burton, who is a SLUCare gastroenterologist. "This offers a great deal of hope for the future that with continued studies we will be able to identify other potentially treatable causes of chronic pancreatitis."

Researchers will now turn to other factors, such as genetics, in their search to determine the causes of pancreatitis.

Established in 1836, Saint Louis University School of Medicine has the distinction of awarding the first medical degree west of the Mississippi River. The school educates physicians and biomedical scientists, conducts medical research, and provides health care on a local, national and international level. Research at the school seeks new cures and treatments in five key areas: cancer, liver disease, heart/lung disease, aging and brain disease, and infectious disease.

Contact: Carrie Bebermeyer, 314-977-8015, bebermcl@slu.edu
Source: Saint Louis University

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After seeing Casey suffer without relief for so many years, it's about time that maybe these damn doctors in the ER's (and elsewhere) will not be asking this as one of their first questions then.
It only adds insult to injury... And back again.
Even when answered truthfully the first thing they want is BAC because then they didn't believe her.

XOXO
Me