According to a study published online September 10th in Diabetes Care, patients with type 2 diabetes may have an increased risk of acute pancreatitis. Furthermore, the risk appears to be more pronounced at younger ages.
Using data from The Health Improvement Network database in the UK, researchers examined the risk of acute pancreatitis among 85,525 type 2 diabetic patients and compared their risk with 200,000 diabetes-free subjects.
After following the subjects for 4.0 years, they discovered that diabetic patients were 1.4 times more likely to develop acute pancreatitis than the general population.
When the researchers analyzed the risk of pancreatitis among treated and not treated diabetic patients, they discovered patients not treated with anti-diabetic pharmacotherapy had the greatest risk.
Patients who were treated with insulin or with long-term use of metformin had a 65% and 50% risk reduction in developing pancreatitis.
Diabetes Care. Posted September 10, 2010. Abstract
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