Parties and hanging out are a ritual to a lot of people, and for some people it is just a waste of time and they will not give a second look at it. But we cannot lie that partying is a way to unwind, and hanging out is a way to build relationships, keep up with friends, and share culture. In doing these things, people share one thing in common which is Alcohol.
According to the World Health Organization, as at 2019, about 38% of the world's population take alcohol and from what I see around me, it looks like people are being indoctrinated into the alcohol WhatsApp group really fast and this means that the number must have increased.
When people go for this get-together, parties, hangouts, clubs and outdoor meetups, they all share alcohol and a lot of people do not remember that they have to drink to drink responsibly and it is at this point that they begin to take 12 bottles of beer, an entire big bottle of Vodka and numerous shots of whisky. These people drink like they do not care about their liver which they obviously do not care about but I am not here to talk about their nonchalant attitudes to their lives, I want to talk about an immediate after effect of drinking the alcohol.
After the vomiting, the hallucination, the confusion, the staggering home, and the series of event that they did which they cannot remember as a result of short time amnesia, they wake up in the morning to one of these things (fried canaries, cook mixed with milk, pickle juice, or coffee) which their friend or family member give to them so as to help with their hangover. That's where I am going!
People who drink alcohol must have experienced at least 1 hangover, C'mon, I know that there are some of you who have had dozens of hangovers that even when you divide it by 10, it will still be more than your current age. Relax, I am talking to you, so you can relate to having that terrible headache, fatigue, nausea, dizziness, and the bulging feeling of the eyeball trying to come out of its socket. Yes I get it that the eyeball eventually doesn't fall off but you always feel miserable at that early hour the following day, but how does hangover actually work?
When it comes to hangover, we cannot but mention dehydration. Alcohol and dehydration will always be in the same statement because alcohol is a diuretic and has to make you pee. It suppresses the pituitary gland thereby preventing the release of vasopressin which allows for the re-absorption of back into the body. With the absence of the hormone,the kidneys just allow water to be released out of the body.
You feel the headache in the morning because in the bid for your body to release water, it steals water from the brain which causes the brain tissues to shrink. When the pee is released, it leads to the loss of sodium, potassium, and magnesium from the body which are important for the functioning of the cells.
Taking alcohol leads to excess Acetaldehyde in the body. When we consume alcohol, the body breaks it down in two phases with the first being the liver breaking it down to ethanol which creates Acetaldehyde as its toxic byproduct, which is then metabolized by other enzymes and a peptide known as Glutathione to form Acetate which is harmless but this only function for those who drink responsibly but if you are one of those who do not like to read or follow the instruction of anything you purchase, then you are leaving your kidneys with no other options than to be overloaded leaving the buildup of Acetaldehyde which is toxic. Most drinks contain Congeners which are a combination of chemicals and in the case of alcohol, it contains Esters, Acetaldehyde, and Acetone (paint thinner) which are very dangerous to the kidney.
No that we know why you experience hangovers, what can be done because trust when I say that everything I listed above that you take when you have a hangover doesn't do any justice to relieving your hangover except coffee which constricts the blood vessels to the brain and this will relieve the headache but this will till dehydrate you more. In reality, the only remedy to hangover is time (Time heal all wounds) but while you wait for time, you should re-hydrate, eat, and sleep and possibly think of making better decisions the next time you go to a social gathering.
REFERENCE
https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/alcohol
https://www.niaaa.nih.gov/publications/brochures-and-fact-sheets/hangovers
https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC6761819/
https://blogs.cdc.gov/cancer/2018/04/02/3-weird-things-about-acetaldehyde/
https://alcoholthinkagain.com.au/alcohol-and-your-health/long-term-health-effects
https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC10277208/
https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC5513691/
https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/does-alcohol-dehydrate-you
https://www.hackensackmeridianhealth.org/en/
