Are There Dietary Factors Affecting the Development of Pancreatitis in Patients With Gallstones?

The incidence of acute pancreatitis has been reported as 4.9-35/100.000, and the incidence increases every year with the increase in obesity and gallstone rates. It is most commonly observed between the ages of 30-60 and no difference was found in terms of gender distribution. The most common cause of acute pancreatitis is gallstones. Alcohol use, drugs and other reasons come next.

It is known that diet and obesity play a role in the formation of gallstones. It has been reported that the risk of gallstone formation is two times higher in obese individuals with a body mass index (BMI) >30 than in normal-weight individuals with a BMI between 20-25. In addition, many studies have reported that increased use of dietary refined carbohydrates and triglycerides and reduced dietary fiber intake are associated with gallstone formation.

The epidemiological literature on the relationship between diet and risk of acute pancreatitis is very limited. In addition, it is often unclear which type (acute, recurrent, or chronic) and subtype (gallstone-related or non-gallstone-related) of acute pancreatitis is studied in studies. On the other hand, Sarles et al. In a comprehensive study conducted in 1973, he reported that high fat and protein consumption and alcoholism increase the risk of pancreatitis, regardless of etiology. Few case-control and ecological studies have evaluated the effect of protein, fat, and carbohydrate intakes on alcohol-related or gallstone-related acute pancreatitis risk or non-gallstone-related acute pancreatitis risk or acute pancreatitis mortality.

At the beginning of the twentieth century, an inverse relationship between coffee consumption and the risk of alcohol-induced acute pancreatitis was observed in a prospective study, and an inverse relationship with fruit consumption in two smaller case-control studies, and a positive association with consumption of freshwater fish and parboiled rice. In parallel, overly large meals and food allergies after a long period of fasting have been reported to be risk factors for acute pancreatitis.

Although there are studies in the literature evaluating the relationship between diet and development of gallstones or the development of pancreatitis with diet, studies examining the role of diet in the development of pancreatitis in patients with gallstones are very limited. In this study, we aimed to investigate the dietary differences in patients with gallstones who had pancreatitis and those who did not.