A new 24-year follow-up study of patients who received bariatric surgery published Friday has found that while the procedure is generally safe and effective, it presents a clear increased risk the patient will go on to develop a drug use disorder. File Photo by Alexis C. Glenn/UPI | License Photo
July 21 (UPI) — A major study by Swedish medical researchers of more 4,000 patients with obesity has found that those who underwent weight loss surgery were 2.5 times more likely to go on to develop a non alcohol-related substance use disorder than those who receive standard obesity care. The Swedish Obese Subjects prospective study published in the journal Obesity on Friday compared 2,010 patients who underwent one of the three types of appetite-suppressing bariatric surgeries — gastric bypass, vertical banded gastroplasty or gastric banding — with a match control group of 2,037 subjects. Advertisement
A link between increased risk of alcohol intoxication and alcohol use disorder is already well understood but the SOS study, involving 25 Swedish public surgical departments and 480 primary health care centers, compared the outcomes of the two groups over 24 years to investigate evidence the treatment is linked to both prescription and illicit drug misuse.
Advertisement
Study: Weight loss surgery raises risk of developing a non-alcohol substance abuse disorder
