High dietary glycemic load increases the risk of non-gallstone-related acute pancreatitis: a prospective cohort study.

BACKGROUND & AIMS: Obesity and type 2 diabetes--diseases linked to glucose intolerance and insulin resistance--have been positively associated with the risk of acute pancreatitis. However, it is unclear whether consumption of foods that increase postprandial glycemia and insulinemia have similar associations. We examined the association between dietary glycemic load and risk of non-gallstone-related acute pancreatitis. METHODS: We performed a prospective study of 44,791 men and 36,309 women (aged 45-84 years), without a history of acute pancreatitis, from the Cohort of Swedish Men and the Swedish Mammography Cohort. Glycemic loads were calculated from food frequency questionnaire data collected in 1997, and participants were followed for the development of non-gallstone-related acute pancreatitis through 2010 via linkage to the Swedish National Patient Register. Hazard ratios (HRs) were estimated using Cox proportional hazard models. RESULTS: During a total follow-up of 967,568 person-years, there were 364 cases of incident non-gallstone-related acute pancreatitis (236 in men and 128 in women). Incidence rates, standardized for age and sex, were 49 cases per 100,000 person-years in the highest quartile of glycemic load and 33 cases per 100,000 person-years in the lowest. The multivariate-adjusted HR of non-gallstone-related acute pancreatitis was 1.60 (95% confidence interval [CI], 1.17-2.18) for the highest compared with the lowest quartile. Every 50-unit increase in glycemic load per day (∼ 3 servings of white bread) had an HR of 1.38 in men (95% CI, 1.11-1.72) and women (95% CI, 1.02-1.86). CONCLUSIONS: Based on a large, prospective cohort study, diets with high glycemic load are associated with an increased risk of non-gallstone-related acute pancreatitis.