Mar 17, 2021 05:59 PM
https://www.discovermagazine.com/health/...-hangovers
EXCERPTS: . . . While there’s plenty of research surrounding alcohol’s effects, there are few studies about hangovers, which means the causes remain somewhat of a mystery. Below are the possible culprits, ordered from least to most guilty.
Dehydration. While dehydration is commonly blamed for hangovers, it’s only part of the story. It’s true that alcohol is a diuretic, or a chemical that causes us to relentlessly pee, but dehydration could simply "co-occur" with hangovers rather than drive them...
[...] Congeners. ... Consider these chemicals the personality traits that give each alcohol its own special qualities ... Often, the darker the color, the more the congeners — and the more toxic its constituents. While the toxicity of congeners might not cause hangovers, it does seem to exacerbate them...
[...] Acetaldehyde. The body transforms booze into a substance called acetaldehyde, which is up to 30 times more toxic ... and causes nausea, sweating and a racing pulse. ... Acetaldehyde, along with its broken-down form, acetate, may be responsible for the lion’s share of hangover symptoms.
[...] Immune System. ... Drinking alcohol invites a broader suite of chemicals into our bloodstream than usual, triggering an immune response: Inflammation-promoting proteins signal the brain to produce more of them, leading to throbbing headaches and psychological effects like memory issues and mood changes (sometimes called the metaphysical hangover).
The Hangover-Resistant and The Hangover-Vulnerable. A 2008 study published in Current Drug Abuse Reviews evaluated all the research claiming to have quantified the elusive “hangover-resistant” population, and concluded that they constitute roughly 23 percent of the US population. [...] genetics explains almost half the variation in hangovers experienced between individuals — though the potential explanations (which genes are doing what) are countless...
[...] As for whether young people can better endure them, Richard Stephens from the Alcohol Hangover Research Group told the BBC that “there’s no evidence" for the claim that hangovers worsen as we age...
[...] A 2015 study published in Alcohol and Alcoholism separated people who claimed to be hangover-resistant from people who experience more typical hangovers, got them equally drunk and measured their immune responses before and after drinking. The morning after, both groups had significant immune responses, with no discernible differences between them.
The Facts Behind Hangover Tolerance Remain Hazy. What’s more, much of our hangover data come from surveys that rely on participants self-reporting their symptoms. Not only is this unreliable, but researchers don't often account for drinking circumstances...
[...Perhaps...] the percentage of people claiming to be hangover-resistant ... simply aren’t big drinkers. A ... 2017 study showed that the majority of those claiming they’ve never experienced a hangover (58 percent female, 71 percent male) hadn’t drank over 0.8 mg/mL (alcohol/blood); for relatively heavier drinkers, the women and men claiming to be hangover-resistant dropped to 5.8 percent and 5.1 percent, respectively.
Overall, it’s hard to discern whether people who claim to be hangover-resistant are the real thing... (MORE - details)
EXCERPTS: . . . While there’s plenty of research surrounding alcohol’s effects, there are few studies about hangovers, which means the causes remain somewhat of a mystery. Below are the possible culprits, ordered from least to most guilty.
Dehydration. While dehydration is commonly blamed for hangovers, it’s only part of the story. It’s true that alcohol is a diuretic, or a chemical that causes us to relentlessly pee, but dehydration could simply "co-occur" with hangovers rather than drive them...
[...] Congeners. ... Consider these chemicals the personality traits that give each alcohol its own special qualities ... Often, the darker the color, the more the congeners — and the more toxic its constituents. While the toxicity of congeners might not cause hangovers, it does seem to exacerbate them...
[...] Acetaldehyde. The body transforms booze into a substance called acetaldehyde, which is up to 30 times more toxic ... and causes nausea, sweating and a racing pulse. ... Acetaldehyde, along with its broken-down form, acetate, may be responsible for the lion’s share of hangover symptoms.
[...] Immune System. ... Drinking alcohol invites a broader suite of chemicals into our bloodstream than usual, triggering an immune response: Inflammation-promoting proteins signal the brain to produce more of them, leading to throbbing headaches and psychological effects like memory issues and mood changes (sometimes called the metaphysical hangover).
The Hangover-Resistant and The Hangover-Vulnerable. A 2008 study published in Current Drug Abuse Reviews evaluated all the research claiming to have quantified the elusive “hangover-resistant” population, and concluded that they constitute roughly 23 percent of the US population. [...] genetics explains almost half the variation in hangovers experienced between individuals — though the potential explanations (which genes are doing what) are countless...
[...] As for whether young people can better endure them, Richard Stephens from the Alcohol Hangover Research Group told the BBC that “there’s no evidence" for the claim that hangovers worsen as we age...
[...] A 2015 study published in Alcohol and Alcoholism separated people who claimed to be hangover-resistant from people who experience more typical hangovers, got them equally drunk and measured their immune responses before and after drinking. The morning after, both groups had significant immune responses, with no discernible differences between them.
The Facts Behind Hangover Tolerance Remain Hazy. What’s more, much of our hangover data come from surveys that rely on participants self-reporting their symptoms. Not only is this unreliable, but researchers don't often account for drinking circumstances...
[...Perhaps...] the percentage of people claiming to be hangover-resistant ... simply aren’t big drinkers. A ... 2017 study showed that the majority of those claiming they’ve never experienced a hangover (58 percent female, 71 percent male) hadn’t drank over 0.8 mg/mL (alcohol/blood); for relatively heavier drinkers, the women and men claiming to be hangover-resistant dropped to 5.8 percent and 5.1 percent, respectively.
Overall, it’s hard to discern whether people who claim to be hangover-resistant are the real thing... (MORE - details)
