Research suggests drinkers who are overweight face a "double whammy" impact on their liver. Two studies of more than a million UK men and women suggest excess weight and alcohol act together to raise the risk of cirrhosis and other liver diseases. The researchers said obese women who drink little more than a glass of wine a day have almost double the risk of liver disease than other women. The British Medical Journal reported a similar effect is seen in men. In the first study, researchers at the University of Oxford studied more than a million middle-aged women in England and Wales. They found that being overweight or obese increased the likelihood of developing liver cirrhosis. The second study followed more than 9,000 men in Scotland. Obese men who said they drank 15 or more units a week had the greatest risk of liver disease, almost 19 times higher than those who were slim. Writing in the BMJ, the authors said their findings have important health implications.