Today obesity is probably the leading health problem in the Western world and in the United States alone almost 60 percent of people are overweight, with close to 24 percent being obese and 3 percent severely obese. Now 3 percent might not seem like a big figure but when you consider that it equates to more than 9 million severely obese people this is a fairly major problem.

In spite of the fact that more and more attention is being focused on the problem of obesity and its treatment, it is surprising how much we are still learning about the condition, including the affect that alcohol can have on people who have undergone weight loss surgery.

For a time now there has been a fair amount of anecdotal evidence that people who have undergone gastric bypass surgery are affected more by alcohol than others but it was not until late last year that any real attempt was made to assess the extent of the problem.

In a quite small-scale study the affects of alcohol on 19 people who had undergone gastric bypass surgery was compared to the affects on 17 control subjects. The people in the study were each given a 5 ounce glass of red wine and their breath alcohol was then measured at 5 minute intervals until it fell back to zero.

The study discovered that alcohol levels reached a higher level in the gastric bypass patients and also took much longer to return to zero. However, most interestingly, the study also demonstrated that just }a single|one} small glass of wine was enough to put the breath alcohol level in several gastric bypass surgery patients above the legal limit for driving in several US states.

The explanation for the heightened affects of alcohol on gastric bypass surgery patients is fairly easy to understand as surgery reduces the size of the stomach and bypasses part of the intestine, both areas of the body that play a key role in 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 take care and most definitely to refrain from driving after drinking even small quantities of alcohol, the implications for gastric bypass surgery patients do in fact go a bit wider.

One particular problem is that alcohol acts as a relaxant and this causes difficulties when it comes to post-operative weight loss and to maintaining weight loss. As alcohol relaxes the stomach, including the lower esophageal sphincter, and the intestine, patients who enjoy alcohol are able to eat more and the presence of alcohol in effect counteracts the affects of surgery. As if this was not bad enough a significant number of people become more socially active following surgery and this sometimes means an increased consumption of alcohol.

There still needs to be considerably more research carried out but, at the end of the day, the fact is that people who have undergone weight loss surgery need to be aware of the possible risks of alcohol and adjust their lifestyle accordingly.