Following many years of debate we are at last coming around to the inevitable conclusion that surgery is the only really successful and lasting answer to the problem of morbid obesity. And not before time!
Today obesity is probably the number one health problem in the industrialized world and in the USA alone almost 60 percent of the population is overweight, with close to 24 percent being obese and 3 percent severely obese. Now 3 percent may not seem like a big figure but when you consider that it is more than 9 million severely obese people this is a pretty major problem.
In spite of the fact that more and more attention is being turned towards the problem of obesity and its cure, it is surprising just how much we still have to learn about the condition, including the affect that alcohol can have on people who have undergone obesity surgery.
For a time now there has been a fair amount of anecdotal evidence to suggest that people who have had gastric bypass surgery are more susceptible to the affects of alcohol but it was not until late in 2006 that any attempt was made to assess the extent or otherwise of the problem.
In a reasonably low-key study the affects of alcohol on 19 people who had gastric bypass surgery was compared to the affects on 17 control subjects. The people in the study each drank a small 5 ounce glass of red wine and their breath alcohol level was then measured at 5 minute intervals until it returned to zero.
The study showed that alcohol levels reached a higher level in the gastric bypass patients and also that they took far longer to fall back to zero. But, most interestingly, the study also found that just }a single|one} small glass of wine was enough to put the breath alcohol level in a significant number of gastric bypass surgery patients over the legal limit for driving in several states.
The explanation for the added affects of alcohol on gastric bypass surgery patients is quite simple to understand as surgery both reduces the size of the stomach and bypasses a section of the intestine, both areas of the body that are responsible for breaking down alcohol before it gets into the bloodstream.
So exactly what does this mean for gastric bypass surgery patients?
Well, apart from the obvious need to be careful and most definitely to avoid driving after drinking even small amounts of alcohol, the implications for gastric bypass surgery patients do in fact go a bit deeper.
A major problem is that alcohol is a relaxant and this can produce problems when it comes to post-operative weight loss and to maintaining weight loss. As alcohol relaxes the stomach, including the lower esophageal sphincter, together with the intestine, patients who enjoy a drink are able to eat more and alcohol in effect counters the affects of surgery. As if this was not bad enough many people are more socially active following surgery and this frequently means an increased consumption of alcohol.
There will still need to be a great deal more research carried out but, at the end of the day, the fact is that people who have obesity surgery must be aware of the risks of alcohol and adjust their lifestyle accordingly.
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