Gastric Bypass Increases Risk for New-Onset Alcohol Abuse

Gastric bypass surgery is fat person surgery.

Here is another benefit we get to pay for.

Roux-en-Y gastric bypass (RYGB) surgery is associated with an increased risk of developing new-onset alcohol abuse, according to findings presented here from a study of 340 patients who underwent the procedure in Boston, Massachusetts.

The poster was presented at Obesity 2011: The Obesity Society's 29th Annual Scientific Meeting.

"Our data underscore the need for asking patients during their preop evaluation about their use of alcohol, and again when following up after surgery," presenter Stephanie Sogg, PhD, told Medscape Medical News. Dr. Sogg is a clinical staff psychologist at the Massachusetts General Hospital Weight Center in Boston.

Dr. Sogg said that several years ago she began hearing from patients that not only was alcohol having a far greater effect on them after surgery than before, but also that some were developing full-blown alcoholism after surgery — even if they had never had a previous problem with drinking.

And what was most intriguing, Dr. Sogg said, was that many of the people who were becoming alcoholics were middle-aged. That is long after most people begin to have alcohol-related problems. Data from the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism indicate that the mean age of onset of alcohol abuse is 22 years.

Kudos, fatsos.