Tuesday, 10 May 2011

Gastric bypasses linked with increased risk of alcoholism

Fancy trading in your eating addiction? According to the latest diet research from Sweden, bariatric surgery candidates who opt for a gastric bypass over a lapband could be running the risk of alcoholism.

While researchers have long been aware of the higher risk of alcohol absorption which follows a stomach staple, the new findings - announced in Chicago earlier this week - are the first to suggest a link with alcohol abuse.

The study examined records or 12,277 patients who underwent bariatric surgery over a 26 year period. Comparing them with 122,770 control subjects, researchers found that - before surgery - the obese patients demonstrated a much higher risk of depression, attempted suicide and alcoholism. And - despite surgery - these risks remained high.

Shining the spotlight on alcoholism, researchers discovered that gastric bypass patients were 230% more likely to suffer from alcoholism than their counterparts who underwent lapband surgery.

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