Cannabis Use May Lessen Risk of Developing Alcohol-Related Pancreatitis

Researchers accessed the National Inpatient Sample database to collect and analyze patient-discharge records from 2012 – 2014 for more than 18 million individuals 18 years of age and older. The World Health Organization’s ninth revision of the International Classification of Diseases was used to identify three populations: those with gallstones (379,125); individuals with alcohol use disorder (762,356); and those with no gallstones/non-alcohol users (15,255,464). The study populations were compared with respect to cannabis use.

Cannabis use appeared to reduce the risk of developing alcohol-related acute and chronic pancreatitis. Conversely, cannabis use did not appear to have an impact on the risk of developing gallstone-related acute and chronic pancreatitis. The authors speculated that cannabis might be interacting with alcohol in the pancreas in unknown ways. Given the worldwide increase in the legalization of cannabis, the authors called for more detailed studies on potential therapeutic benefits that various cannabinoids – the active ingredients found in cannabis – may offer for diseases such as pancreatitis.

Contacts and sources:
Research Society on Alcoholism

Citation:
Reduced Risk of Alcohol‐Induced Pancreatitis With Cannabis Use
Adeyinka Charles Adejumo, Olalekan Akanbi, Kelechi Lauretta Adejumo, Terence Ndonyi Bukong
First published: 20 December 2018  https://doi.org/10.1111/acer.13929