Posted on 12/31/2005 8:10:49 PM PST by neverdem
THE last time Nan Anane, a graphic designer in San Francisco, had one beer too many during a night out with friends, his first stop the next morning was to his local Mexican taqueria, where he ordered tostadas made with ceviche, uncooked fish cured with citrus juice. "It really brings me back from that headache and bodyache," he said. "Something about near-raw fish really breathes life back into you."
Outer Mongolians are said to have feasted on pickled sheep eyeballs in tomato juice. Cattle ropers in the Old West supposedly sipped tea brewed from rabbit dung. Russians have been known to drip vodka over fatty sausage into a tumbler and then drink it. Long before the ancient Egyptians started raising a beer in honor of the god Osiris, human beings have been in search of hangover relief, and this morning, as people wake up groggy from yet another New Year's Eve, there will be dozens of cures to choose from that go far beyond the traditional Alka-Seltzer.
The Internet has made it possible for anyone to share secret cures, including waffle sandwiches, Pedialyte Freezer Pops and coffee enemas. It has also allowed small-time herbalists and vitamin distributors to market a panoply of packaged remedies trumpeting ingredients like artichoke extract, sarsaparilla root and prickly pear. There's even something called the Wasabi Hangover Bath Treatment concocted from Epsom salts and organic mustard, intended to help you sweat out the toxins.
Though there has been limited medical research into the effectiveness of such cures, the explosion of new products prompted British and Dutch researchers to review the research on popular folk remedies and hangover products. The results, published in late December in BMJ, the British medical journal, found that "no compelling evidence exists to suggest that any conventional or complementary intervention is effective..."
(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...
The paucity of randomised controlled trials is in stark contrast to the plethora of "hangover cures" marketed on the internet. This confirms the unreliability of the internet in healthcare matters.33 Our findings show that no compelling evidence exists to suggest that any conventional or complementary intervention is effective for preventing or treating alcohol hangover. Encouraging findings for their main outcome measures exist for linolenic acid from B officinalis, a yeast based combination preparation, and tolfenamic acid. However, only single randomised controlled trials for each of the tested interventions were available, most were of small sample size, and all used unvalidated symptom scores. Independent replications of these studies are therefore necessary. The lack of a sensitive standard outcome measure to assess the physiological and subjective effects of alcohol hangover may be one of the reasons for the small body of evidence. The development and initial validation of the hangover symptoms scale will hopefully encourage further systematic research and will aid the integration of trial data.34
Future studies should also investigate the biological changes that occur during alcohol hangover. The trial of O ficus-indica reported that the extract had some effects on individual symptoms, which received some media attention.27 35 The authors suggested that O ficus-indica exerts its action by acting on prostaglandin synthesis and cytokines that are deregulated during alcohol hangover.36 This view is supported by the improvement reported for tolfenamic acid,31 a potent inhibitor of prostaglandin synthesis. However, other data also reported beneficial effects for pyritinol, a nootropic agent that seems to enhance cognitive performance, and Liv.52, an Ayurvedic herbal preparation containing eight extracts with possible effects on alcohol metabolism.18 19 These agents seem not to act directly on the prostaglandin system. Future studies should disentangle the pathology of alcohol hangover to enable the development of effective hangover interventions.
Ethical concerns may relate to research in this area. It is conceivable that positive trials might lead to considerable media interest and industry marketing, which ultimately might lead to an increase in alcohol consumption. However, little evidence exists to show that alleviation of hangover symptoms results in increased alcohol consumption.1 Conversely, no conclusive evidence shows that hangover effectively deters alcohol consumption.
Limitations of our review pertain to the potential incompleteness of the reviewed evidence. We aimed to identify all randomised controlled trials on the topic. The distorting effects on systematic reviews arising from publication bias and location bias are well documented.37-40 For this study we searched databases with a focus on the American and European literature and those that specialise in complementary medicine, and we included hand searches. We imposed no restrictions on language of publication, and the two reviewers independently appraised the clinical evidence. We are therefore confident that our search strategy located the published trials on the subject. However, whether we identified all unpublished trials has to remain uncertain.
What is already known on this topic The alcohol hangover has substantial economic and health consequences
Compliance with moderation to prevent alcohol hangover is poor
What this study adds
Eight randomised controlled trials assessing eight different medical interventions for preventing or treating the symptoms of alcohol hangover were reviewed
No compelling evidence exists to suggest that any conventional or complementary intervention is effective for preventing or treating alcohol hangover
Conclusions Our findings show that no compelling evidence exists to suggest that any complementary or conventional intervention is effective for treating or preventing the alcohol hangover. Future studies should investigate the biological changes that occur during alcohol hangover. Until the pathology of alcohol hangover is understood in more detail, an effective intervention is likely to remain elusive. The most effective way to avoid the symptoms of alcohol induced hangover is thus to practise abstinence or moderation.
oh good...now I have some ideas for tomorrow.
Tylenol #3
The best pill ever made for a hangover.
Stop drinking = no hangover.
Simple.
The best thing is to drink pedialyte, the night you drank. You can buy it at any drugstore. Its for dehydrated infants and replenishes electrolytes. Great stuff!!!
Oh heck no! Tylenol (aceti whatever) makes your kidneys and liver work overtime, which is what the booze does anyway. Tylenol is the WORST thing for a hangover. Causes more damage that (if you're a big drinker) you can ill afford.
"Tylenol #3 The best pill ever made for a hangover."
Tylenol with alcohol is toxic to the liver. It can kill you.
And I'm *not* kidding.
"Outer Mongolians are said to have feasted on pickled sheep eyeballs in tomato juice."
They must mean in modern times. Tomatoes are indigenous to the New World.
The last one I took for a hangover was back in '82, and it was wonderful.
I don't drink anymore and didn't know of the health risk. Thanks for the info.
" Until the pathology of alcohol hangover is understood in more detail, an effective intervention is likely to remain elusive."
Advil and tankards of hot tea aren't usually elusive but I guess a sledgehammer headache might make them seem so.
Watermelon!
Time heals all wounds.
Actually as all business men know it's
Time wounds all deals!
Happy New Year.
I've still got a half an hour as the world turns.
I don't indulge much but when I do I make sure to do nothing the day after.
I hadn't heard that. What about ibuprofen... isn't that what Advil is?
They're SHEEPHERDERS, not Cowboys!!
Oops, sorry. Wrong thread.
lol!
Good Lord, if I never hear about these, ahem, guys again, I'll be happy.
You drink too much, you pay for it. Simple as that. Drink good booze and you won't hang so bad.
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