Public release date: 18-Jun-2012 [ | E-mail | Share ]

Contact: Leslie Curtis NIDDKMedia@mail.nih.gov 301-496-3583 NIH/National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases

Adults who had a common bariatric surgery to lose weight had a significantly higher risk of alcohol use disorders (AUD) two years after surgery, according to a study by a National Institutes of Health research consortium.

Researchers investigated alcohol consumption and alcohol use disorders symptoms in 1,945 participants from the NIH-funded Longitudinal Assessment of Bariatric Surgery (LABS), a prospective study of patients undergoing weight-loss surgery at one of 10 hospitals across the United States. Within 30 days before surgery, and again one and two years after surgery, study participants completed the Alcohol Use Disorders Identification (AUDIT) test. The test, developed by the World Health Organization, identifies symptoms of alcohol use disorders, a condition that includes alcohol abuse and dependence, commonly known as alcoholism.

Study participants were categorized as having AUD if they had at least one symptom of alcohol dependence, which included not being able to stop drinking once started, or alcohol-related harm, which included not being able to remember, or if their total AUDIT score was at least 8 (out of 40).

About 70 percent of the study participants had Roux-en-Y (RYGB) gastric bypass surgery, which reduces the size of the stomach and shortens the intestine, limiting food intake and the body's ability to absorb calories. Another 25 percent had laparoscopic adjustable gastric banding surgery, which makes the stomach smaller with an adjustable band. About 5 percent of the patients had other, less common weight-loss surgeries.

Among participants who had the RYGB procedure, 7 percent reported symptoms of alcohol use disorders prior to surgery. There was no significant increase in AUD one year after surgery. However, by the second year after surgery, 10.7 percent of patients reported symptoms of AUD, a relative increase of more than 50 percent compared to pre-surgical rates.

One in 8 LABS study participants reported having at least three drinks on a typical drinking day the second year after surgery. "This is concerning, given the negative impact heavy drinking may have on vitamin and mineral status, liver function and weight loss," said Dr. Wendy King, the study's lead author and an assistant professor in the Department of Epidemiology at the University of Pittsburgh Graduate School of Public Health.

Although AUD prior to surgery was one of the strongest predictors of AUD after surgery, more than half of study participants with AUD after surgery did not report having the condition during the year before surgery.

Regular alcohol use before surgery at least two drinks per weekwas also independently related to a higher risk of postoperative AUD. In addition to prior AUD and drinking frequency, patients with less social support or who reported preoperative recreational drug use or smoking before surgery were more likely to report symptoms of AUD after surgery. Men and younger adults were also more likely to develop AUD. Depressive symptoms, mental health treatment, and binge eating prior to surgery were not independently related to an increased likelihood of AUD after surgery.

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Weight-loss surgery increases alcohol use disorders over time

Why the mostly commonly performed bariatric surgery in the U.S. doubles patients' risk for drinking problems, compared with a less severe weight-loss procedure

Jon Shireman / Getty Images

Gastric bypass surgery for weight loss doubles the risk of alcohol problems two years later, compared with bariatric surgery using the banding technique, according to new research published in the Journal of the American Medical Association.

The study of nearly 2,000 patients at 10 American hospitals was the first to directly examine the risk for alcohol use disorders before and after different types of obesity surgery, including Roux-en-Y gastric bypass, the most commonly performed weight-loss surgery in the U.S. The procedure involves stapling off most of the stomach and rerouting food directly to a lower part of the intestine, making eating large meals difficult and uncomfortable, and limiting the amount of calories absorbed.

Gastric bypass seems to increase patients risk of alcohol problems by making the body more sensitive to lower doses of booze: it allows more alcohol to get to the bloodstream faster because it skips most of the stomach and is better absorbed by the intestines. Addiction research shows that the faster a drug hits, and the greater its intensity, the more addictive it tends to be. (This is why snorting or injecting prescription painkillers or stimulants is more addictive than taking them orally.)

Two years after gastric bypass, about 9.1% of gastric bypass patients had developed drinking problems up significantly from before the procedure the study found, compared with about 5.6% of patients who had drinking problems two years after stomach-banding surgery. The latter procedure involves putting an inflatable band around the stomach to reduce the amount of food it can hold; while it limits the amount of food that can enter the stomach, it still requires food to pass through the entire system and therefore doesnt affect the way alcohol is absorbed.

The findings confirm an earlier study, which examined the medical records of people who had these surgeries and looked for alcoholism-related hospitalizations afterward.

(MORE: Bypassing Obesity for Alcoholism: Why Some Weight-Loss Surgeries Increase Alcohol Risk)

Although gastric bypass did double the risk for alcohol problems, compared with banding surgery, the overall change in rates of alcohol disorders before and after surgery was small. Before any kind of weight-loss surgery, about 7.6% of the patients in the study had some type of alcohol problem including frequent binge drinking, boozing in the morning, or blacking out while drinking with 2.8% showing symptoms of alcoholism. After surgery, 9.6% had an alcohol problem and a full 5.5% had alcoholism symptoms.

The authors note that although this increase may seem small, with 70% of obesity surgeries using the gastric bypass technique and with more and more people seeking surgery as rates of obesity rise, it means that 2,000 additional Americans each year may be likely to develop alcohol problems.

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Bypass Surgery for Weight Loss Doubles the Risk of Alcohol Problems

A major new study confirms previous sporadic reports that weight-loss surgery increases the risk of alcohol abuse, researchers reported Monday. In the second year after having a gastric bypass, technically known as Roux-en-Y surgery, patients were 30% more likely to have problems controlling their alcohol use, a team reported online in the Journal of the American Medical Assn. and at the annual meeting of the American Society for Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery.

Previous reports have suggested that alcohol abuse could be a problem following bariatric surgery, but the studies have been small and generally involved collecting data at some point after the procedure. In the new study, a team led by epidemiologist Wendy C. King of the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine began studying 2,458 adults before they underwent bariatric surgery at one of 10 hospitals. Of those, 1,945 could be monitored for one to two years after the procedure.

The team found that 7.6% of the patients suffered from alcohol-abuse disorders (abuse and dependence) in the year before the surgery. At the end of one year after the procedure, the percentage was about the same, 7.3%. But by the end of the second year, the prevalence of such disorders had climbed to 9.6%, a 30% increase. Virtually all of the increase occurred in patients who had undergone gastric bypass, with no increase among the roughly 30% of patients who had a banding procedure.

Some research suggests that the increase in problems arises because the metabolism of alcohol changes after gastric bypass. "Given a standardized quantity of alcohol, patients reach a higher peak alcohol level [in the bloodstream] after surgery compared with case-controls or their pre-operative levels," the team wrote. In other words, bypass patients get drunk faster and with smaller amounts of alcohol.

The excessive drinking may be a greater problem for bariatric surgery patients because alcohol abuse can affect vitamin and mineral status and liver function, which are already potential problems for the surgery patients, King said. She urges clinicians to perform a better job of screening patients for abuse before surgery and to offer counseling to help them combat the problem.

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Gastric bypass for weight loss increases alcohol use, study says

DUBLIN--(BUSINESS WIRE)--

Research and Markets (http://www.researchandmarkets.com/research/p7mj79/nbj_2012_sports_nu) has announced the addition of the "NBJ 2012 Sports Nutrition & Weight-Loss Report" report to their offering.

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Go here to read the rest:
Research and Markets: NBJ 2012 Sports Nutrition & Weight-Loss Report

CHICAGO (AP) - The most common type of obesity surgery may increase patients chances for alcohol abuse, according to the largest study to demonstrate a potential link.

Patients who had gastric bypass surgery faced double the risk for excessive drinking, compared with those who had a less drastic weight-loss operation.

Gastric bypass surgery shrinks the stomachs size and attaches it to a lower portion of the intestine. That limits food intake and the bodys ability to absorb calories. Researchers believe it also changes how the body digests and metabolizes alcohol; some people whove had the surgery say they feel alcohols effects much more quickly, after drinking less, than before the operation. The study suggests that may lead to problem drinking.

The researchers asked nearly 2,000 women and men who had various kinds of obesity surgery at 10 centers nationwide about their drinking habits one year before their operations, versus one and two years afterward. Most didnt drink excessively before or after surgery, and increases in drinking didnt occur until two years post-surgery.

More than two-thirds had gastric bypass surgery and were most at risk. Two years after the surgery, almost 11 percent, or 103 of 996 bypass patients, had drinking problems, a 50 percent increase from before surgery.

By contrast, about 5 percent of patients who had stomach-banding obesity surgery drank excessively two years later, similar to the pre-surgery numbers. Too few patients had other types of weight-loss surgery to make strong comparisons.

The study was released online Monday in the Journal of the American Medical Association.

About 8 percent of U.S. adults abuse alcohol by drinking excessively. The study authors say their results suggest that an additional 2,000 people each year will develop drinking problems because of obesity surgery.

More than 200,000 stomach-reducing surgeries are performed each year. Gastric bypass, also called stomach-stapling, is the most common and generally results in more weight loss than other methods. The benefits of gastric bypass surgery include sometimes reducing diabetes and heart disease risks.

Patients should be screened for alcohol problems before and after surgery and told about the risks, said lead author Wendy King, an assistant professor at the University of Pittsburghs graduate school of public health.

See the rest here:
Shrinking stomach may boost risk for booze abuse

1:52 PM

The Associated Press

CHICAGO The most common type of obesity surgery may increase patients' chances for alcohol abuse, according to the largest study to demonstrate a potential link.

Patients who had gastric bypass surgery faced double the risk for excessive drinking, compared with those who had a less drastic weight-loss operation.

Gastric bypass surgery shrinks the stomach's size and attaches it to a lower portion of the intestine. That limits food intake and the body's ability to absorb calories. Researchers believe it also changes how the body digests and metabolizes alcohol; some people who've had the surgery say they feel alcohol's effects much more quickly, after drinking less, than before the operation. The study suggests that may lead to problem drinking.

The researchers asked nearly 2,000 women and men who had various kinds of obesity surgery at 10 centers nationwide about their drinking habits one year before their operations, versus one and two years afterward. Most didn't drink excessively before or after surgery, and increases in drinking didn't occur until two years post-surgery.

More than two-thirds had gastric bypass surgery and were most at risk. Two years after the surgery, almost 11 percent, or 103 of 996 bypass patients, had drinking problems, a 50 percent increase from before surgery.

By contrast, about 5 percent of patients who had stomach-banding obesity surgery drank excessively two years later, similar to the pre-surgery numbers. Too few patients had other types of weight-loss surgery to make strong comparisons.

The study was released online Monday in the Journal of the American Medical Association.

About 8 percent of U.S. adults abuse alcohol by drinking excessively. The study authors say their results suggest that an additional 2,000 people each year will develop drinking problems because of obesity surgery.

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Study: Shrinking stomach boosts risk for alcohol abuse

Second Year After Weight Loss Surgery May Be Riskiest

June 18, 2012 -- Two years after weight loss surgery, people may be particularly vulnerable to alcohol abuse problems.

That news comes from a study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association.

"What we found was more gastric bypass patients reported symptoms of alcohol use disorder in the second year after surgery, compared to pre-surgery or the first year after surgery," researcher Wendy C. King, PhD, assistant professor of epidemiology at the University of Pittsburgh Graduate School of Public Health, tells WebMD.

The study will also be presented today in San Diego at the American Society for Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery's annual meeting.

For years, there have been anecdotal reports of alcohol abuse becoming more likely after weight loss surgery. But studies on that haven't been conclusive, King tells WebMD.

King's new study included nearly 2,000 obese U.S. men and women who had weight loss surgery at any of 10 U.S. hospitals.

They filled out surveys before surgery, a year later, and the year after that.

The survey included questions about alcohol use. The researchers used it to identify who had alcohol use disorders, defined as abuse or dependence.

There was no spike in alcohol use disorders in the first year after weight loss surgery. While 7.6% of patients had alcohol problems before surgery, 7.3% had them one year after.

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After Bariatric Surgery, Alcohol Abuse More Likely

Andrew Kahn was only a social drinker before his weight-loss surgery. He never imagined he would develop problems with alcohol because he had bariatric surgery. But he did.

The 61-year-old from Fort Lauderdale, Fla., who had his gastric bypass surgery in 2003, eventually developed alcoholism and was treated at a rehabilitation facility for his addiction.

"I never had any guidance or education about that," said Kahn. "If I was given the choice between being obese and becoming an alcoholic, I would have thought about [my decision] more."

The American Society for Metabolic and Bariatric surgery estimates that approximately 72 million people are obese in the United States and 200,000 people have bariatric surgery each year.

Kahn's alcohol addiction may not be a unique result of gastric bypass surgery. New research suggests that having Roux-en-Y gastric bypass surgery, where the size of the stomach is reduced and the intestine is shortened, thus limiting how much a person can eat, can increase the risk of alcohol-use disorders.

The study, conducted by researchers at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, adds to mounting evidence of a link between have the popular gastric bypass surgery and the symptoms of alcohol-use disorders.

Before the surgery, the nearly 2000 study participants completed a survey developed by the World Health Organization that is used to identify symptoms of alcohol abuse.

The patients then completed the survey one and two years after their weight-loss surgery. The study found 7 percent of patients who had gastric bypass reported symptoms of alcohol use disorders prior to surgery. The second year after surgery, 10.7 percent of patients were reporting symptoms.

The findings were published Monday in the Journal of the American Medical Association.

"There have been previous studies that show there is a change in alcohol sensitivity in gastric bypass," Wendy King, a research assistant professor in the department of epidemiology at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, and the study's lead author.

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Weight-Loss Surgery Ups Alcoholism

Nearly 40 years after entering the music business, Chaka Khan is still Every Woman as she continues to illuminate the lives of others through her music and philanthropic efforts.

With hopes of releasing her newest music project on her next birthday (March 23), the 10-time Grammy Award-winning singer is steadily busy as she prepares to embark on a international tour with super-producer David Foster later this year, in addition to appearing at the upcoming Essence Music Festival where she will be on hand to honor local New Orleans women, through her Chaka Khan Foundation, for their life changing achievements post-Hurricane Katrina.

The Huffington Post recently caught up with the funk/R&B powerhouse as she discussed her latest initiative, her recent weight loss, recording new music and her reaction to being a sex symbol.

In less than a month you will be in New Orleans during the Essence Music Festival where your Chaka Khan Foundation will honor 33 local women for their efforts with the SuperLife Transformation Program. What inspired you to get involved with the initiative?

A lot of these women, when I met them a year ago, some of them lived in their cars. The majority of the other women had seen if not one or more members of their family wiped out, gone. So these women were stressed out. I just couldnt fathom going down to New Orleans to do the Essence Music Festival and not leaving some kind of door opening or something. But what were going to do is have testimonials, performances, and a graduation. And once people graduate they will become mentors themselves and pay it forward to the next group of women.

Will this be an ongoing effort for your foundation to continue at future Essence Music Festivals?

Absolutely. Ive incorporated these women into my life. Im taking the responsibility [for] standing up for them and being there for them, providing a lot of love and support.

In addition to your philanthropic efforts, youve also been working steadily with your music career. Are you currently recording a new album?

Yes, Ive been working steadily, non-stop. Im in the studio right now, trying to get a couple of tracks out there for people to hear over the summer. The album wont be out until next year.

The albums release next year also marks your 40th anniversary in the music industry.

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Chaka Khan Opens Up On Weight Loss, New Music, Being A Sex Symbol

Meryl Streep Weight Loss 2012 Meryl Streep Diet Program - Isn't amazing how all of the celebrities you see have a celebrity diet plan for weight loss to maintain their weight. Some of them are shapely and healthy looking, and look good on camera. Others look like they haven't eaten in weeks, like they just got back from the famine in Ethiopia for a few weeks. Like they had been starving themselves to lose weight, and that is probably what they have been doing. You see it in all the tabloids, this person lost 100 pounds again, this one gained 100 pounds, and then lost 150 pounds. Some are not as dramatic; this one lost 40 pounds and is a television spokesperson, because the previous celebrity diet spokesperson gained the weight back. The fact is they may be starving themselves to lose weight, fasting like they are going through a famine.

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Celebrities make dieting look so easy, don't they? One month they're on the cover of US Weekly for gaining too much weight and the next they're headlining the "sexiest beach bods" story. It is true that seriously overweight people can lose large amounts of fat in a quick amount of time, because of the large fat content in their cells. But those that are only a few pounds overweight, losing 40 pounds in a month, is not only starvation, it is malnutrition and can have serious side effects. Our body weight can fluctuate day to day and the best diets take the weight off gradually, the way it came on. If you lose a lot of weight in a short time, staying the same size will be impossible unless you follow a maintenance program for life. Good, sensible dieting means skill and will power combined. A lot of these celebrity diets or Hollywood diets are very bad for the body and the celebrities are thinking of the camera rather than their long term health. Researches indicate that individuals who indulge in a weight loss program by taking prepared meals end up losing an additional 31% weight as against those who cook their own meals. With help, losing weight is made easier and at times much faster as against doing it on your own.Diet delivery is gaining popularity in a big way as it is fairly affordable by even the common man, roughly around $20 a day with an increasing variety to choose from. A few of which include: Zone-compliant meal, low carbs plan, veggie meals, and gourmet too.

"Click Here to Watch Weird VIDEO About The 5 Foods that KILL Abdominal Fat!"

With the rapidly increasing epidemic of obesity and increasing BMI levels, there is an array of products and diet plan to aid in combating obesity. Celebrity slim diet, the basic idea is to educate people and not to depict food as an enemy. Like a lot of famous diets in Hollywood, if your body thinks you are starving, it is going to hold on to every calorie you take in to keep you from starving to death instead of burning them for energy. When you follow a properly balanced weight loss diet, your metabolism will hardly notice the decrease in calories and continue to burn fat it doesn't need to store. This is a more long-term weight loss strategy.

Celebrities do not have secrets about dieting. They are normal people like the rest of us but, unlike most of us, they have people working for them such as diet advisors and personal trainers. Celebrity diets involve a level of commitment and dedication which we struggle with. The best celebrity diets involve eating sensibly and limiting our calorie intake. Having these factors in mind will allow you to have safe and easy weight loss that will provide you with short term and long term consistent results.

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Meryl Streep Weight Loss 2012 Meryl Streep Diet Programs