Smoking increases risk of pancreatitis

Smoking appears to be associated with an increased risk of pancreatitis, and the risk of developing the disease may be higher in those who smoke more, a study suggests. Previous research had suggested that smoking may be associated with pancreas damage, but since smoking is strongly associated with alcohol use, an independent effect of smoking can be difficult to detect, the researchers wrote in the Archives of Internal Medicine.   Their study included 17,905 participants who underwent a physical examination and completed a questionnaire about lifestyle habits.   After an average of 20 years follow-up, participants who at baseline reported smoking or being previous smokers had higher risks of developing acute and chronic pancreatitis compared with non-smokers.   For example, men and women who smoked 15 to 24 grams of tobacco a day were over two and a half times more likely to develop pancreatitis than non-smokers.   Although alcohol intake was associated with increased risk of pancreatitis, the risk of pancreatitis associated with smoking was independent of alcohol and gallstone disease, the researcher said.   “Apart from the epidemiologic evidence of an association between smoking and development of acute and chronic pancreatitis, a biological effect of smoking seems plausible because both animal studies and human studies have demonstrated changes of the pancreas and in pancreatic functioning after exposure to tobacco smoke,” they concluded.    ...