and knowing is half the battle
"Anatomy of a Pounding eadache"
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Anatomy of a Pounding Headache
A hangover's not just an excruciating headache and queasy stomach.
By Tony Farrell, Men's Health
Find more
Oh, the pain, the pain. You went and let that party get the better of you. Now your muscles ache, your stomach is doing back flips, and it feels as if the marching band has decided to use your cerebellum as a big bass drum.
If you choose to drink, then you know a hangover can be the price you pay. You just keep forgetting how bad it makes you feel. So what is it about alcohol, anyway, that causes you so much misery? And is there anything you can do about it? Here's a quick picture of what happens to your body every time you let a beer keg get the better of you.
First off, alcohol affects you by a simple formula: The more you drink, the more your system has to work overtime to flush it all out. Your brain says "party," but it's hard for your body to keep up.
For one thing, drinking to excess is like barging in on your central nervous system without knocking. Special sensitivity receptors embedded in your nerve-cell membranes were happily binding with important neurotransmitters until the booze showed up. Alcohol spoils the moment by throwing those receptors out of whack and upsetting those nerve cells. And it's not enough that the booze ruined your brain's evening: As your body purges alcohol the next morning, your central nervous system stays unbalanced and stressed out enough to cause vomiting, tremors, and agitation.
For another, as you consume alcohol, it metabolizes into acetaldehyde, which in high concentrations can cause rapid pulse, sweating, and nausea. Mix in that some booze contains flavor, taste, and color enhancers known as congeners that also add to hangover symptoms.
Besides forcing your system to deal with an army of its toxic byproducts, alcohol zeroes in on specific body functions and throws them off balance.
Drinking dries you out
Though it may seem as if you're flooding your system every time you fill your party cup, you're actually losing fluids as you drink. That morning-after thirst, dizziness, headache, and dry throat spell one thing-dehydration.
You're all dried out because alcohol functions as a diuretic, encouraging your kidneys to create more urine by suppressing your body's levels of the anti-diuretic hormone vasopressin. And the more trips to the bathroom you make, the more you deplete your body's reservoir of fluids. Add an episode of vomiting or a case of the "sweats," and you throw off your electrolyte balance even more.
Drinking disrupts your stomach
A few drinks might relax your mood, but they put your stomach on full alert. Alcohol inflames your stomach lining and increases production of gastric acid, as well as pancreatic and intestinal digestive fluids. Throw your stomach into overdrive with drinks, and you increase your risk of throwing up.
Drinking alters your blood sugar
As alcohol makes its way through your system, it disrupts your body's production of natural sugars, or glucose. It also causes your liver to accumulate fat compounds known as triglycerides and adds lactic acid to your body fluids, both of which can trigger low glucose, or mild hypoglycemia. Since glucose is your brain's chief fuel, low glucose levels can make you feel tired, weak, and irritable-all standard-issue hangover symptoms.
Drinking screws up your sleep
Funny how your hangover feels like the time you pulled an all-nighter during finals. That's because alcohol disrupts your normal sleep patterns, decreasing the time you spend in REM (rapid eye movement) sleep and increasing your deep, or slow-wave, sleep. You're effectively turning your body clock on its head and giving yourself "jet lag."
The best defense
How to stay ahead of the game and possibly outwit hangovers ahead of time? First of all, you could choose not to drink. But if you do, having just one or two, spreading your consumption out over the course of an evening, and drinking water between drinks will help your system step up to the job. Avoid mixing alcohol with nicotine or other drugs, and consider grabbing some chow before heading out for the evening. A stomach even slightly full will slow down alcohol's trip into your bloodstream.
Once you're home and ready to crash (or if it's already morning and you're squinting at this while nursing a pounding head), try to chug down some water or juice to restore your electrolytes and keep you hydrated. Be careful about grabbing a tablet of anything: Aspirin can upset your already-grouchy stomach, and acetaminophen, such as Tylenol, can damage your liver when it meets the alcohol still in your system. And forget about "the hair of the dog that bit you." More booze will only restore alcohol to your already-addled system and prolong the pain.
The best cures? Get some more sleep, give it time. And consider laying off the alcoholic drinks in favor of water, juice, or soda next time.
More on MSN Health & Fitness:
Provided by Men's Health
.
health.msn.com/health-topics/articlepage.aspx
Anatomy of a Pounding Headache
A hangover's not just an excruciating headache and queasy stomach.
By Tony Farrell, Men's Health
Find more
Oh, the pain, the pain. You went and let that party get the better of you. Now your muscles ache, your stomach is doing back flips, and it feels as if the marching band has decided to use your cerebellum as a big bass drum.
If you choose to drink, then you know a hangover can be the price you pay. You just keep forgetting how bad it makes you feel. So what is it about alcohol, anyway, that causes you so much misery? And is there anything you can do about it? Here's a quick picture of what happens to your body every time you let a beer keg get the better of you.
First off, alcohol affects you by a simple formula: The more you drink, the more your system has to work overtime to flush it all out. Your brain says "party," but it's hard for your body to keep up.
For one thing, drinking to excess is like barging in on your central nervous system without knocking. Special sensitivity receptors embedded in your nerve-cell membranes were happily binding with important neurotransmitters until the booze showed up. Alcohol spoils the moment by throwing those receptors out of whack and upsetting those nerve cells. And it's not enough that the booze ruined your brain's evening: As your body purges alcohol the next morning, your central nervous system stays unbalanced and stressed out enough to cause vomiting, tremors, and agitation.
For another, as you consume alcohol, it metabolizes into acetaldehyde, which in high concentrations can cause rapid pulse, sweating, and nausea. Mix in that some booze contains flavor, taste, and color enhancers known as congeners that also add to hangover symptoms.
Besides forcing your system to deal with an army of its toxic byproducts, alcohol zeroes in on specific body functions and throws them off balance.
Drinking dries you out
Though it may seem as if you're flooding your system every time you fill your party cup, you're actually losing fluids as you drink. That morning-after thirst, dizziness, headache, and dry throat spell one thing-dehydration.
You're all dried out because alcohol functions as a diuretic, encouraging your kidneys to create more urine by suppressing your body's levels of the anti-diuretic hormone vasopressin. And the more trips to the bathroom you make, the more you deplete your body's reservoir of fluids. Add an episode of vomiting or a case of the "sweats," and you throw off your electrolyte balance even more.
Drinking disrupts your stomach
A few drinks might relax your mood, but they put your stomach on full alert. Alcohol inflames your stomach lining and increases production of gastric acid, as well as pancreatic and intestinal digestive fluids. Throw your stomach into overdrive with drinks, and you increase your risk of throwing up.
Drinking alters your blood sugar
As alcohol makes its way through your system, it disrupts your body's production of natural sugars, or glucose. It also causes your liver to accumulate fat compounds known as triglycerides and adds lactic acid to your body fluids, both of which can trigger low glucose, or mild hypoglycemia. Since glucose is your brain's chief fuel, low glucose levels can make you feel tired, weak, and irritable-all standard-issue hangover symptoms.
Drinking screws up your sleep
Funny how your hangover feels like the time you pulled an all-nighter during finals. That's because alcohol disrupts your normal sleep patterns, decreasing the time you spend in REM (rapid eye movement) sleep and increasing your deep, or slow-wave, sleep. You're effectively turning your body clock on its head and giving yourself "jet lag."
The best defense
How to stay ahead of the game and possibly outwit hangovers ahead of time? First of all, you could choose not to drink. But if you do, having just one or two, spreading your consumption out over the course of an evening, and drinking water between drinks will help your system step up to the job. Avoid mixing alcohol with nicotine or other drugs, and consider grabbing some chow before heading out for the evening. A stomach even slightly full will slow down alcohol's trip into your bloodstream.
Once you're home and ready to crash (or if it's already morning and you're squinting at this while nursing a pounding head), try to chug down some water or juice to restore your electrolytes and keep you hydrated. Be careful about grabbing a tablet of anything: Aspirin can upset your already-grouchy stomach, and acetaminophen, such as Tylenol, can damage your liver when it meets the alcohol still in your system. And forget about "the hair of the dog that bit you." More booze will only restore alcohol to your already-addled system and prolong the pain.
The best cures? Get some more sleep, give it time. And consider laying off the alcoholic drinks in favor of water, juice, or soda next time.
More on MSN Health & Fitness:
- How to Avoid a Hangover
- Why Drunks Forget
- Sex Headaches
- Drink the Beer, Lose the Gut
- Counting Cocktail Calories
Provided by Men's Health
.