Everything science tells us about hangovers — and how you can try to make the pain go away

drinking party new year's hangover

The exact causes of a hangover aren't totally clear, but scientists say dehydration isn't the primary culprit.
Hangovers are caused more by the chemicals created when our body breaks down alcohol, according to the Alcohol Hangover Research Group.
The science is still out on most hangover "cures" — aside from time.

The symptoms of a hangover are many, including bleary-eyed exhaustion, nausea, a parched throat, throbbing head, regret, and the short-lived resolution never to do that again.

Perhaps the best definition of the next-day consequences of excessive alcohol consumption, as reported in the proceedings of the 8th meeting of the Alcohol Hangover Research Group is a simple and straightforward one: "a general feeling of misery."

Hangovers aren't just a headache for those recovering from New Year's Eve, St. Paddy's Day, or from a general night out with friends — they're a headache for scientists too. The researchers behind the Alcohol Hangover Research Group (AHRG) formed their organization because of the general neglect towards hangover research, despite the fact that humans have suffered this general misery for thousands and thousands of years.

That neglect leaves those researchers asking the same questions many of us have: why does it feel so bad and what, if anything, can we do to feel better? (The fact that their 8th annual meeting was held in New Orleans surely added some urgency to their quest.)

We've pulled information from their latest report and from other hangover research to see what science can contribute towards explaining why we feel the way we do on those rough mornings — and to see how we could perhaps feel a bit better.

File under obvious but true: a study of Australian revelers shows that the drunker people get, the more severe their hangovers tend to be.

Researchers say that the specific indicator here is breath alcohol content. The higher that goes, the more severe the morning will be. Things like drinking faster or taking shots unsurprisingly speed up the process.

But certain things can help people moderate those levels of inebriation.

Sure, drinking less can help, but that's not the answer most people are looking for.

For now there's no way to totally avoid a hangover, but eating fatty foods really does make your body absorb alcohol more slowly.

It's hard to say how impaired hangovers make people exactly, but you probably should avoid driving hungover.

Some studies show people have slower reactions but normal accuracy on simple tasks; other studies show normal reactions but loss of accuracy. Either way, most data says getting behind the wheel while suffering after during a rough morning isn't a good idea.

See the rest of the story at Business Insider