The National Pancreas Foundation estimates that between 5 and 12 persons per 100,000 in affluent countries like the United States will acquire chronic pancreatitis.

Chronic inflammation can cause the pancreas to become damaged, which makes the organ incapable of assisting the body with food digestion.

Numerous studies have shown that the majority of persons with chronic pancreatitis go on to develop diabetes.

In a new study, researchers from Cedars-Sinai explain factors that could increase the risk for people with chronic pancreatitis, which is a long-term inflammation of the pancreas, to get diabetes. The study’s results were published in the journal Diabetes Care.

For this study, researchers obtained data from 645 chronic pancreatitis patients enrolled in Prospective Evaluation of Chronic Pancreatitis for Epidemiologic and Translational Studies (PROCEED). 276 of the participants in PROCEED had diabetes.

They were  18-75-year-olds. Researchers evaluated characteristics, like tobacco and alcohol use, known to raise the risk for Type 2 diabetes in those with a diagnosis of chronic pancreatitis.

They discovered:

• Diabetes was 2.42 times more common in men than in women.
• The risk of developing diabetes was almost three times (2.76 times) higher among those who were overweight or obese compared to those who maintained a healthy weight.
• Diabetic risk was 2.33–2.53 times higher among people of color than among whites.
• Smokers were 2.08 times more likely to develop diabetes than nonsmokers.
• Diabetes was more common in older people; a person’s chances of getting it went up by 3% every year they lived.

Pancreatic disease subtypes, such as exocrine pancreatic dysfunction, also played a role in determining an individual’s vulnerability.

According to first author Christie Jeon, “known risk factors for Type 2 diabetes as well as pancreas-specific features such as calcium deposits in the pancreas or shrinkage of the pancreas predicted who developed diabetes among persons with pancreatitis.”

Some people might be able to change habits that put them at risk for diabetes.

Currently, researchers are following a bigger cohort of patients to see if the same risk variables identified here may be used to predict who would get diabetes in that group.

According to the authors, future research should focus on the potential contributions of genetics, insulin, and hormone levels in the development of diabetes in persons with chronic pancreatitis.

Source: 10.2337/dc22-1414

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