Antioxidants Reduce Pain in People with Chronic Pancreatitis

Chronic pancreatitis is a progressive and painful disease that affects an estimated 46,000 Americans. It is most often caused by alcohol abuse and gallstones. But taking a cocktail of antioxidants can significantly reduce the pain associated with pancreatitis.

Pramod K. Garg, MD, and his colleagues at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi, used antioxidant supplements or placebos to treated 127 patients who had developed pancreatitis from either alcoholism or unknown causes.

The supplements, which were taken daily for six months, consisted of 600 mcg of selenium, 540 mg of vitamin C, 9,000 IU of beta-carotene, 270 IU of natural vitamin E, and 2 grams of methionine.

By the end of the study, patients taking the antioxidants had an average of seven and a half fewer days with pain every month, compared with a reduction of only three days among people in the placebo group. People taking the antioxidants also took about 10 fewer analgesic pills per month, whereas those in the placebo group only took about four fewer pills.

In addition, one-third of the patients taking antioxidants became completely pain free during the study; only about 13 percent of those in the placebo group did. Finally, and not unexpectedly, the researchers reported that blood levels of free radicals decreased significantly among people taking antioxidants.

Reference: Chardwaj P, Garg PK, Maulik SK, et al. "A randomized controlled trial of antioxidant supplementation for pain relief in patients with chronic pancreatitis." Gastroenterology, 2009;136:149-159.