Gemma Prat of the Department of Psychiatry and Clinical Psychobiology, School of Psychology, University of Barcelona, Spain, explains in a research review paper earlier this year, that despite claims to the contrary, we really don’t yet fully understand what causes alcohol hangovers. There are, of course, plenty of theories, and even more home-spun remedies…

Anyone who has ever had one too many alcoholic beverages will know all too well the misery of the morning after the night before.

The “symptoms” of hangover vary, but a combination of any of the following may define someone as hungover:

Distress, anxiety, tachycardia, tiredness, increased arterial tension, weakness, palpitations, thirst, tremor, nausea, headache, diarrhea, muscular cramps loss of appetite, stomach pain, decreased attention, sensitivity to light, memory problems, sensitivity to loud noise, poor concentration, dizziness, poor sleep, irritability, depression.

There are various concepts about what actually causes a hangover: poisoning by the alcohol in the drink itself, toxic metabolites of alcohol, alcohol withdrawal, or the toxic effects of other compounds commonly found in alcoholic drinks, particularly highly colored beverages. It may be that any one of these or various combinations is to blame. We don’t yet know. “All of them are partial, explaining different aspects of hangover or how several factors are able to modify its appearance and severity,” say Prat and her colleagues.

What we do know is that thousands of people suffer every morning, and many productive days are lost because of overindulgence. Prat’s paper aims to review the concept of hangover, how it progresses, and to suggest how new research might improve our knowledge of this rather unpleasant phenomenon. It might even one day lead to a way of preventing hangover without those who enjoy a tipple having to abstain totally. (Maybe that’s not a good thing…)

Prat, G., Adan, A., & Sánchez-Turet, M. (2009). Alcohol hangover: a critical review of explanatory factors Human Psychopharmacology: Clinical and Experimental, 24 (4), 259-267 DOI: 10.1002/hup.1023

Alcoholic news

• 21 Reasons Why Alcohol is Dragging You Down (naturalbias.com)
• Shakin’, Shakin’, Shakes (docsurg.blogspot.com)
• Alternate with water (johnaugust.com)
• Hangover Cures (sciscoop.com)
• Acetaldehyde in alcohol – no longer just the chemical that causes a hangover. New evidence points to an overlooked risk factor for cancer (newswire.ca)