Ask the Doctor. Is there a hangover cure?
While moderate alcohol use may offer some health benefits, heavy drinking, including binge drinking, has no health benefits. PHOTO | COURTESY
What you need to know:
- Apart from ethanol, alcohol contains other substances that occur naturally or resulting from the manufacturing process (distilling and fermenting) called congeners. It is these that can contribute to or worsen hangover symptoms, especially headaches.
I usually suffer from these terrible hangovers and it is impossible to do anything. Is there anything that can provide relief? Ddamulira
Dear Ddamulira,
A hangover is a collection of unpleasant symptoms that usually occur the morning after drinking too much alcohol, usually the night before. The symptoms may include, among others, headache, muscle aches, stomach pain, dizziness, fatigue, thirst, nausea, irritability, sweating, strong pumping of the heart (palpitations) and sensitivity to light and sound.
Alcohol may irritate the stomach and many parts of the body including the brain resulting in hangover symptoms such as abdominal pain, decreased appetite, nausea or vomiting, lack of memory and lack of concentration. Alcohol may also cause the body to produce more urine, causing one to frequently pass urine which may lead to dehydration accompanied by thirst, headache and dizziness, among other symptoms.
Apart from ethanol, alcohol contains other substances that occur naturally or resulting from the manufacturing process (distilling and fermenting) called congeners. It is these that can contribute to or worsen hangover symptoms, especially headaches.
The belief that a hangover may be caused by minor alcohol withdrawal has caused many to drink alcohol to stop withdrawal and alleviate the hangover symptoms. However, more alcohol just dulls one’s senses, making hangover symptoms ease temporarily. Also, use of alcohol to cure a hangover may lead to alcohol dependency and should be avoided. Alcohol is broken down by an enzyme (alcohol dehydrogenase) into a toxic chemical called acetaldehyde, which may be responsible for some of the hangover symptoms. Water is useful in diluting toxic chemicals that cause hangovers and should be taken instead of alcohol.
The best prevention of a hangover is not to drink at all since a hangover could be the body’s way of trying to deter one from drinking. Also, taking water or fruit juice is better than taking coffee or more alcohol, which may cause more palpitations, more urination and a worse hangover.
