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Titled: A Drink Or Two And Gastric Bypass Surgery Could Prove A Dangerous Mixture Get the Health category RSS Feed

A Drink Or Two And Gastric Bypass Surgery Could Prove A Dangerous Mixture

Article Summary: If you are severely obese and enjoy a drink or two then there is something that you should know when it comes to mixing gastric bypass surgery and alcohol.

Following years of argument we are finally coming around to the inevitable conclusion that surgery is the only really successful and lasting answer to the problem of morbid obesity. And it is most certainly not before time!

Right now obesity is possibly the leading health problem in the industrialized world and in the USA alone approximately 60 percent of people are overweight, with close to 24 percent being obese and 3 percent extremely obese. Now 3 percent might not seem like a big figure but when you realize that it adds up to more than 9 million severely obese people that is a fairly big 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 how much we still have to learn about the condition, including the affects of alcohol on individuals who have undergone weight loss surgery.

For some time now there has been some anecdotal evidence that individuals who have had obesity surgery are affected more by alcohol but it was not until late in 2006 that any attempt was made to determine the extent or otherwise of the problem.

In a fairly small-scale study the affects of alcohol on 19 individuals who had undergone obesity surgery was compared to the affects on 17 control subjects. The people taking part in the study were each given a small 5 ounce glass of red wine and their breath alcohol level was then analyzed at 5 minute intervals until it had fallen back to zero.

The study revelaed that alcohol levels reached a higher level in the obesity patients and also that they took much longer to return to zero. Perhaps most interestingly, the study also showed that just }a single|one} small glass of wine was enough to push the breath alcohol level in several obesity surgery patients over the legal alcohol level for driving in several US states.

The reason for the increased affects of alcohol on obesity surgery patients is quite simple to understand because surgery reduces the volume of the stomach and bypasses a section of the intestine, both areas of the body which play a significant role in breaking down alcohol before it finds its way into the bloodstream.

So precisely what does this mean for obesity surgery patients?

Well, apart from the obvious need to be careful and most definitely to avoid driving after drinking even very small amounts of alcohol, the implications for obesity surgery patients do in fact go a little deeper.

A particular problem is that alcohol is a relaxant and this can result in difficulties when it comes to post-surgical weight loss and to maintaining weight loss. Because alcohol relaxes the stomach, which includes the lower esophageal sphincter, and the intestine, patients who enjoy alcohol can eat more and the presence of alcohol effectively counters the affects of surgery. As if this was not bad enough many individuals become more active socially following surgery and this generally means an increased consumption of alcohol.

There still needs to be a great deal more research carried out of course but, at the end of the day, the simple fact is that individuals who have undergone weight loss surgery need to be aware of the possible risks of alcohol and watch their consumption accordingly.

Article Source: http://www.upublish.info

About the Author:
Don Saunders
GastricBypassFacts.info gives a great deal of information on gastric bypass surgery including details of the cost of gastric bypass surgery