Digestive Diseases and Diabetes

diabetes: Not only is every digestive organ potentially affected by diabetes, but the liver and exocrine pancreas may also have a modulating if not causal role in the development of diabetes. Physiological abnormalities associated with diabetes have been described in every part of the digestive tract where measurements can be made. This chapter focuses on the relationships between diabetes and common or otherwise significant digestive disorders. The first sections examine associations of diabetes with digestive disorders in three national surveys that provide U.S. population-based data. The remaining sections evaluate and summarize the clinical and epidemiologic literature that pertains to diabetes and selected digestive diseases. For each digestive disease the discussion is organized to address two issues: whether diabetic subjects are at greater risk than nondiabetic subjects, and what characterizes the minority of diabetic people who develop the digestive disease. A similar approach has been taken for the few digestive diseases that may increase the risk of developing diabetes, such as liver cirrhosis and chronic pancreatitis.