Following many years of discussion we are finally coming around to the unavoidable conclusion that surgery is the only really effective and lasting answer to the problem of severe obesity. And it is certainly not before time!

At the moment obesity is probably the number one health problem in the Western world and in the United States alone almost 60 percent of people are overweight, with nearly 24 percent being obese and 3 percent extremely obese. Now 3 percent may not seem like a big figure but when you consider that it adds up to more than 9 million morbidly obese people that is a fairly major problem.

Despite the fact that more and more attention is being focused on the problem of obesity and its cure, it is surprising how much remains to be learnt about the condition, including the affects of alcohol on people who have undergone weight loss surgery.

For some time now there has been a fair amount of anecdotal evidence to suggest that people who have had obesity surgery are more susceptible to the affects of alcohol than others but it was not until the end of last year that any real attempt was made to determine the extent of the problem.

In a fairly low-key study the affects of alcohol on 19 people who had undergone obesity 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 level was then measured at 5 minute intervals until it returned to zero.

The study found that alcohol levels reached a higher level in the obesity patients and also took far longer to return to zero. Perhaps most interestingly, the study also found that just }a single|one} small glass of wine was sufficient to push the breath alcohol level in a number of obesity surgery patients above the legal limit for driving in several US states.

The reason for the added affects of alcohol on obesity surgery patients is fairly easy to understand because surgery reduces the volume 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 finds its way into the bloodstream.

So precisely what does this mean for obesity surgery patients?

Well, aside from the clear need to exercise caution and most definitely to avoid driving after drinking even small quantities of alcohol, the implications for obesity surgery patients do in fact go a bit wider.

One major problem is that alcohol is a relaxant and this can produce problems when it comes to post-operative weight loss and to the maintenance of weight loss. Because alcohol relaxes the stomach, including the lower esophageal sphincter, and the intestine, patients who enjoy alcohol are able to eat more and alcohol in effect counters the affects of surgery. As if this was not bad enough a significant number of people are more active socially following surgery and this generally 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 must be aware of the risks of alcohol and act accordingly.