Abstract
Although the association between alcohol and pancreatic
diseases has been recognized for a long time, the
impact of alcohol consumption on pancreatitis and pancreatic
cancer (PC) remains poorly defined. Nowadays
there is not consensus about the epidemiology and
the beverage type, dose and duration of alcohol consumption
causing these diseases. The objective of this
study was to review the epidemiology described in the
literature for pancreatic diseases as a consequence of
alcoholic behavior trying to understand the association
between dose, type and frequency of alcohol consumption
and risk of pancreatitis and PC. The majority of the
studies conclude that high alcohol intake was associated
with a higher risk of pancreatitis (around 2.5%-3%
between heavy drinkers and 1.3% between non drinkers).
About 70% of pancreatitis are due to chronic
heavy alcohol consumption. Although this incidence
rate differs between countries, it is clear that the risk of developing pancreatitis increases with increasing doses
of alcohol and the average of alcohol consumption vary
since 80 to 150 g/d for 10-15 years. With regard to PC,
the role of alcohol consumption remains less clear, and
low to moderate alcohol consumption do not appear
to be associated with PC risk, and only chronic heavy
drinking increase the risk compared with lightly drinkers.
In a population of 10%-15% of heavy drinkers,
2%-5% of all PC cases could be attributed to alcohol
consumption. However, as only a minority (less than
10% for pancreatitis and 5% for PC) of heavily drinkers
develops these pancreatic diseases, there are other
predisposing factors besides alcohol involved. Genetic
variability and environmental exposures such as smoking
and diet modify the risk and should be considered
for further investigations.