A COMPARISON OF NUTRITIONAL PROFILES OF PATIENTS WITH ALCOHOL-RELATEDPANCREATITIS AND CIRRHOSIS

A multifactorial study of 58 variables of alcohol, dietary and tobacco habits of 106 chronic alcoholic and normal subjects was conducted ove r 2 years. The alcoholic population included subjects with either calc ifying chronic pancreatitis (CCP) or cirrhosis (Ci). A standardized, p reviously validated questionnaire was used to investigate dietary inta kes, drinking and smoking habits. The patients with CCP consumed a ric her diet than those with Ci, consisting mainly of saturated fats and a nimals proteins. Although the alcoholics with CCP drank the same total quantity of alcohol as the alcoholics with Ci, they drank it over a s horter time period (less than 20 years) before diagnosis. Differences in the nutritional profiles of the two groups indicate that the popula tion with alcohol-related digestive diseases is made up of subjects wi th different drinking and eating habits. These behavioural differences with respect to dietary and alcohol intake indicate that the alcoholi c patients with CCP or Ci belong to different subgroups.