Most people with pancreatitis will recover if they quit drinking, although they may still occasionally have a few bouts of abdominal pain. Twenty percent of people with pancreatitis will experience major complications and five percent will die. There is also evidence that heavy consumption of alcohol may damage the pancreas tissue directly. It is probably the highly toxic acetaldehyde from the alcohol breakdown which cause direct damage to the cells. It is not yet known how this may relate to the development of adult onset diabetes, although the two are related.
Women develop pancreatitis more rapidly than men.
The liver is the primary organ for alcohol metabolism. When alcohol reaches the liver, it is broken down into acetaldehyde which is extremely toxic to the liver. While there are other toxic aspects of alcohol in the liver, this large buildup of acetaldehyde associated with heavy drinking is the most understood medical problem. Acetaldehyde itself is toxic to the liver and damages the cells . When alcohol is ingested, large amounts of oxygen in the liver are diverted from other areas of the liver to metabolize the alcohol.