he College Drinking Series: Hangovers... the campus curse
Author: James Matthews

Jake's body was strewn across the bed replicating the dirty
towels dangling from his desk and chair. It was his
roommate's bed because he couldn't make it to his own - way
over on the other side of the room - too drunk the night
before to know or care where he landed. The sunlight now
beamed through the broken shades targeting his left eye. It
hurt, but not as much as when he opened both eyes – trying
to find the rattling alarm clock. He swore he would never
move his eyeballs again! The taste in his mouth was so foul
he knew someone wrapped his tongue with an old gym sock.
During the night, he must have wrestled the front line of
the football team – muscles all over now aching; bruises
painting his skin. Veisalgia once again!

Veisalgia is from the Greek "algia" meaning "pain." The
Germans call it "katzenjammer" or wailing of cats; Italians
call it "stonato" or out of tune; French call it "gueule de
bois" or woody mouth; Norwegians call it "jeg har
tommermenn" or workmen in my head; and the Swedes use my
favorite term "hont i haret" meaning pain in the roots of
my hair. We call it a "hangover."

What causes a hangover, can we cure it and what impact does
it have on students? A hangover is the body's way of
telling us we had too much to drink. Contributing factors
include dehydration, congeners, the chemical by-products
resulting from the metabolization of alcohol, and low blood
sugar combined with the depletion of essential vitamins and
minerals.

Causes:
1. Dehydration: Dehydration is a cause and a symptom of
hangovers. Since alcohol is a diuretic. the body loses
water due to increased urination. The more alcohol you
drink, the more water your body loses. Water loss in the
brain contributes to a headache.

2. Congeners: Congeners are chemicals contained in
alcoholic beverages that are formed during alcohol
fermentation and contribute to the intensity of the
hangover. These substances provide the unique flavor,
aroma and color to alcoholic beverages. As your liver
breaks down the alcohol, congeners are dispersed throughout
your system.

Dark liquors, including red wine, brandy, whiskey, sherry,
and tequila contain the most congeners and will generally
cause a more severe hangover. Clear drinks, such as gin,
vodka, and white rum generally contain fewer congeners and
are less likely to cause a hangover. More expensive alcohol
generally contains fewer congeners while cheap liquor is
more likely to give you a hangover.

3. Toxins: Acetaldehyde is produced when your liver breaks
down alcohol. Its exact role as a cause of hangovers is not
clear, but it can be toxic even at moderate doses causing
sweating, nausea, and vomiting. At higher levels it
contributes to headaches, body aches and other symptoms.

4. Low Blood Sugar and Other Factors: Alcohol can cause a
drop in blood sugar causing symptoms such as trembling,
nausea, and irritability. This hypoglycemia can also
contribute to weakness, fatigue and depression.

As the alcohol wears off, the body overcompensates for the
lack of glutamine, a stimulant, by producing more of it
thus preventing deep sleep and perhaps causing
early-morning insomnia. Loss of fluid is accompanied by
loss of essential salts like potassium and magnesium which
also contribute to the hangover.

Cures:
There are as many hangover cures as there are cultures
around the world. Voodoo legend suggests you stick pins
into the cork of the bottle from which you drank. The
Norwegians drink heavy cream. Russians prefer salted
cucumber juice. The Swiss use brandy with peppermint. In
Poland, they mix honey and pickle juice.

In one way, none of these work, and in another, all of them
do. The reason: the most powerful hangover remedy is belief
in the curative value of whatever you do, whether it is
sweating in a sauna or sticking your head in a freezer.
Yet, after about 5,000 years, we still haven't found any
true hangover cures. Nothing truly CURES a hangover.
There are however, certain things we can do to help RELIEVE
some of the hangover symptoms:
- Consuming 500 milligrams of Vitamin C or eating vitamin
C-rich foods like oranges or grapefruit may help.
- Eating fruits and vegetables can help replenish lost
nutrients.
- Replacing lost Vitamin B with a Complex Vitamin B tablet
may help a bit.
- Honey contains large amounts of a natural sugar called
fructose and glucose, which is burned very quickly by the
body. By stimulating metabolism, theoretically the body
will burn off alcohol faster.
- Ginger is an anti-nausea treatment and a powerful
antioxidant and anticoagulant. Whether taken as a pill, in
tea, or in a juice, it may decrease some of the hangover
blues.
- Drinking plenty of water before going to bed helps
counteract dehydration and dilutes the congeners. Replacing
lost fluids by drinking water in the morning might also
reduce the hangover's intensity. NOTE: Chugging too much
water too quickly, can lead to hyponatremia or "water
intoxication" diluting the sodium in the body. This could
even be fatal.

When considering relieving your hangover remember:
- Caffeinated drinks like coffee are diuretics
- Ibuprofen is metabolized in the liver and may increase
your risk of liver damage when combined with large amounts
of alcohol.
- Taking aspirin while you drink or before you sleep can be
very dangerous. Aspirin and alcohol can irritate your
stomach by increasing your stomach acid.
- Tylenol (acetaminophen), like aspirin, is harmful when
mixed with alcohol.
- Drinking more alcohol won't help. It simply postpones the
inevitable.

Sleep! You're probably feeling fatigued and drowsy because
you didn't sleep very well. When you go to sleep with a
high amount of alcohol in your system, you are unable to
enter the REM (Rapid Eye Movement) stage of sleep. Without
it, your brain is unable to dream and achieve the
relaxation it needs. So while you may sleep for eight or
ten hours, your brain will not get the rest it desperately
needs.

Prevention:
Of course the best way to deal with a hangover is
prevention. Abstaining completely from drinking or simply
drinking alcohol in moderation will prevent a hangover.
So-called hangover prevention/treatment pills available
commercially mostly rely on pharmaceutical activated
charcoal. Some people swear by them while others indicate
the pills contain so little charcoal they may have no
effect. While abstaining may be the most efficient way to
prevent a hangover, it's not very realistic for some
college students. If drinking:
- Drink no more than one drink per hour. This will minimize
the negative impact of your drinking.
- Drink water. Alternating alcoholic and non-alcoholic
beverages will help hydration.
- Food in the stomach slows the absorption of alcohol into
the system.
- Congeners are a major contributing factor. Consume
alcoholic beverages with low congener content like vodka,
gin or light beer.

Campus Impact:
In a 2005 survey of 33,000 randomly selected college
students, 62.8% reported at least one hangover in the year
prior to the survey. These hangovers probably led to 21.8%
of these students reporting doing poorly on a test or other
academic project and 30.7% reporting missing a class due to
alcohol. In fact, studies indicate students with an "A"
average report 3.3 drinks per week; "B" students 4.8
drinks; "C" students 6.1 drinks; and students with a "D" or
"F" average report consuming 9.0 drinks per week. Also
frequent heavier drinkers - high-risk drinking three or
more times in the two weeks prior to the survey - reported
even more extensive problems: 60% reported missing class
and 46 percent reported falling behind in school because of
their drinking.

Even if a student is able to drag his or her struggling
body to class, mental capabilities are far from optimal.
For up to as much as seventy two hours following heavy
drinking, several physiological and psychological effects
that inhibit the academic performance are present. Just
small amounts can have a negative impact on cognitive
abilities that can persist for a substantial period of time
after the acute effects of drinking disappear.

So, Jake finally opens both puffy reddened eyes and rolls
to the floor as he slams the alarm. He knows he must make
it to class. Too many previous cuts have rendered him on
the edge of failing. No time for a shower but enough time
to throw on some deodorant. His hair is mangled, but it
always is. He grabs some clothes from the pile in the
corner and stumbles over to the dining hall. Three large
cokes and one donut later he hustles to class. Back seat,
head on the desk, his $35,000 a year education continues.


About the Author:

Jim Matthews, M.Ed. has written 3 books about college
drinking. His alcohol education courses at Keene State
College were identified as the most popular courses at
Keene State. He has conducted programs for over 300,000
students on more than 300 campuses around the country. For
further information:
http://www.collegedrinkingseries.com