Scientists Explain: Hangovers and how to cure them

The hangover: your head hurts; your limbs feel like jelly; you want to lie down and you certainly never want to drink again. Why would you, an educated student and human being, want to go through this?

Whatever the reason is, you can take comfort in the fact that by being hungover you are participating in a grand human tradition. Since prehistoric times mankind has had a favourite chemical compound: ethanol. The early methods of production by fermentation are some of the earliest examples of biotechnology. Eventually ethanol was isolated in pure form in the 12th century and modern production uses a method very similar to that discovered by Michael Faraday in 1825.

Almost all civilizations discovered methods of producing alcoholic beverages independently. As such, through most of recorded history, drinking has played a social and cultural role.

But it’s the binge drink that is most of interest to us; the use of “binge” in English dates the mid 1800’s and within some teenage groups has become almost a rite of passage. The NHS defines binge drinking as “drinking lots of alcohol in a short space of time or drinking to get drunk” and I’m sure these words will aptly describe the events of the first evenings of your university life.

If my experience of first year is anything to go by, your first morning after arriving at Warwick will be filled with a delightful hangover to reward you for all of the bonding with flat mates and future friends.

So, what is that drilling sensation in your brain, and can it be stopped?

There is no scientific consensus on the actual reason for hangovers –though it seems to be some combination of effects of the byproducts of ethanol break down. One key chemical is Aceteldehyde, the first byproduct of ethanol, which accumulates in the body after a night of drinking. At 10-30 times the toxicity of ethanol it’s not hard to see why some scientists suspect this to be the cause of the next morning’s headache. This explanation also raises some speculation as to whether smoking cigarettes during nights out actually causes worse hangovers because of the Aceteldehyde in them.

A further contributing factor to hangovers is dehydration. Without enough water your body cannot perform various chemical processes and as such you feel negative effects. Alcohol acts as a diuretic and can increase the amount of water leaving the body in urine. This results in electrolyte imbalances which have been suggested as a major factor in hangovers.

To answer the question on everyone’s lips, there is only one universally agreed upon and scientifically tested ‘hangover cure’ –avoiding a hangover in the first place! Despite this, it might make you feel better to at least try a “cure”. And who knows? the placebo effect might actually carry you through..

The most commonly suggested hangover “cures” are: rehydration; eating food to ‘absorb the alcohol’; eating sugary food to make you feel less trembly; taking over the counter Paracetamol; and, my personal favorite, caffeinated drinks. None however have concrete evidence to back up their functioning.

Unfortunately, the only one hundred percent effective way for you to prevent a hangover is to take it easy on the drinking!

Comments (1)

  • So the title reads: “hangovers and how to cure them” , yet only a small paragraph explains it at the bottom. The rest is just scientific jargon about the history and reasoning behind a hangover.

    Please make titles clearer.

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