What Do We Know About Hangover?

More often than not, about 77% of people have some signs of a hangover after excessive drinking, while others tend to not experience any at all. Fatigue, headaches, dizziness, clumsiness, increased light sensitivity, stomachaches, and dry-mouth are the classic signs, but loss of concentration and memory, irritability, diarrhea, and sleep deprivation may be seen as well. There are times, though, that hangovers can be so serious that they are considered life threatening. Unstoppable vomiting, seizures, hypothermia, bluish or pale skin, slow or irregular breathing, and going in and out of consciousness are signs of severe alcohol intoxication, which shouldn’t be ignored.

Most signs and symptoms of hangovers will wane and disappear in 24 hours. Resting, drinking pure water and eating food high in sugar and fructose may help relieve some of the symptoms.

What causes

Drinkers experience first symptoms mostly at the morning after a night of heavy drinking. They usually appear when the body’s alcohol level has dropped drastically or has almost returned to its normal level. However, the reasons of hangover are still not clear and its symptoms may be caused by different factors:

• Dry-mouth and lightheadedness may be attributed to dehydration, because people who drink alcohol tend to urinate more.
• A drop in blood sugar levels can cause fatigue and a feeling of clumsiness.
• Your immune system might also react negatively to the alcohol, causing concentration and memory loss.
• Dilated blood vessels caused by drinking can lead to headaches, which can lead to irritability.
• Stomachaches, vomiting and diarrhea can be the result of high stomach acid levels caused by alcohol consumption.

Statistics

As mentioned above, about 8 out of 10 people who consume alcohol experience one or more symptoms of hangover, and statistics show that 50% of all workers in the US have tried to work through their hangovers. This problem also caused around 20% of workers to call in sick, and 25% of them to run late to work. According recent studies, annual lost in productivity due to hangovers in US is about $160-200 billion.

Another survey of the effects of alcohol in a college showed that 25% of students have hangover at least once every week and no less than 29% had to miss classes because of its symptoms.

Impact on daily life

With all the signs and symptoms associated with hangover, it’s quite easy to see how and why it affects the lives of drinkers and those who surround them. Eventually the cost of drinking goes beyond what you’ve been billed for the night. A person suffering from a bad hangover will miss a day of work and, if done several times, this could take a big cut out of the household’s budget. Trying to work through a hangover may seem like a logical solution, but dizziness and clumsiness leads to poor performance and even increases likelihood of being injured at work or at home.

Aside from total abstinence, responsible drinking is by far the best way to avoid hangovers. Know just how much you can handle and you can still have a good time without having to deal with serious consequences the morning after.