Contents
Vacation is a time when we allow ourselves to relax. Relaxation as far as alcohol is concerned often ends in a hangover. Can psychologists enrich our understanding of this state? How about making it easier?
Heraldic shield, horizontally divided into red and white halves, with a full glass of beer and an overturned glass of red wine inscribed in it. This is not the coat of arms of a drunken knight from a parody movie, but the emblem of a serious organization – the Alcohol Hangover Research Group. It brings together enthusiasts who have chosen a rather exotic direction in science. However, if one day they manage to overcome a hangover, a grateful humanity will surely write their names in history in golden letters. Something has already been sorted out, says psychologist from Keele University (UK) Richard Stephens (Richard Stephens).1 Here’s what he can tell us.
Why is it needed?
There is no answer to this question. It is generally accepted that a hangover serves as a natural brake on excessive drinking: the thought of tomorrow morning should stop you and keep you within acceptable limits. This is a common view, but it is hardly correct. After all, following this logic, one must assume that alcoholics are deprived of natural brakes (otherwise they would not become alcoholics) and do not suffer from a hangover. In reality, the exact opposite is true: several recent studies have shown that alcoholics have a much more pronounced hangover syndrome. Moreover, even relatively small amounts of alcohol can cause the most severe hangover in them. Therefore, the biological meaning of a hangover (if it exists at all) is much more complicated. Interestingly, by the way, 22% of people do not suffer from a hangover at all. Why? This is a question for further research.
Biological mechanisms
The mechanisms that cause hangover syndrome are not fully understood, but already thoroughly. So, it can be said with sufficient certainty that a hangover is, among other things, the result of suppression of the immune system by significant amounts of alcohol. The puffiness of the face “the next morning” is precisely the immune response to libations. Another mechanism is related to the breakdown of alcohol in the body, when under the action of enzymes ethanol, the main component of alcohol, breaks down into its constituents. As it decomposes, you feel yourself starting to sober up little by little.
Read more:
- Do we need detoxification?
But alcohol also contains other substances – in particular, methanol, albeit in very small quantities. And having finished with ethanol, enzymes are taken for methanol. Its decomposition products are formaldehyde and formic acid. These are toxins, and therefore a hangover is also a process of self-poisoning of the body by methanol decomposition products. And it is curious that our enzymes are very selective. They always start with ethanol and then move on to methanol. And if you drink alcohol again 8-10 hours after drinking alcohol, then the enzymes will immediately leave the “old” methanol from the previous drink alone and will start with the “new” ethanol. This is the biological meaning of the habit of getting drunk. You will indeed feel better for a while as the enzymes stop poisoning you by breaking down the methanol. Alas, this is one of the causes of alcoholism.
Learning difficulties
Of course, the study of hangover syndrome can hardly be called a priority area of modern science. Research funding is very limited, and research on hangovers is often viewed with skepticism by colleagues. “This is sad,” notes Richard Stevens, “because, among other things, science is remarkable also because no one is able to predict in which area of science tomorrow outstanding discoveries and breakthroughs will be made. There are other difficulties as well. For example, for ethical reasons, we, of course, cannot drink enough of the participants in the experiments in the laboratory to guarantee a hangover the next morning. Therefore, one has to deal with rather limited effects.
Read more:
- “He came home drunk”
It is possible, however, to invite people to the laboratory who had drunk heavily the day before without any participation of researchers, but in this case the so-called “expectation effect” comes into force. Participants will understand that they were invited specifically to study a hangover, and this can affect test results. Especially psychological ones, and after all, the effect of hangover on cognitive functions is an important and interesting area of study. But one way or another, the creation of the Alcohol Hangover Research Group has already led to the fact that the number of works in this area is now steadily growing.
Medicines and folk remedies
So far, hangover medications are aimed at its main symptoms – first of all, headaches. Which, by the way, is an inflammatory response, supporting the idea that the nature of the hangover syndrome is partly due to immune suppression. Accordingly, various anti-inflammatory drugs give a certain result. It is also known that the juice or decoction of a plant known as borage, or borage, helps alleviate the symptoms of a hangover. But there is no medicine that could eliminate the whole complex of problems. The same goes for all folk remedies, from cucumber pickle to crispy hot toast with butter. The main criterion of reliability in science is the repeatability of the results of an experiment. And none of the folk “elixirs” showed an effective result in at least a few independent studies.
What to do if it has come?
There is no single and universal recipe. Other than the most obvious – don’t drink. But if a hangover does happen, then you should keep in mind: the most effective means of dealing with it contain glucose. This is due to another hangover mechanism: drinking alcohol causes a drop in blood sugar levels. Restoring it, you at least partly feel better. In England, for example, the best remedy for a hangover is a rich “fried breakfast” – scrambled eggs, fried sausages, bacon, baked beans. All of these foods are very rich in carbohydrates and help raise your sugar levels faster.
1 Read more about it on The Atlantic’s website (theatlantic.com)
Pass the tests
- How do you deal with failure?