Hangovers - no cure?

Scientists have concluded that there is no cure for hangover and the only way to avoid is "to drink less alcohol."

13:08 04 September 2015

There may be a lot of theories on how to fight hang-over but scientists have proven that nothing, including drinking coffee or water the night before, makes any difference. However, it can be avoided by drinking less alcohol.

 

Scientists conducted a survey that was participated by 826 students who answered questions about their most recent heavy drinking session.

 

Lead scientist Dr Joris Verster, from the University of Utrecht in the Netherlands, said: "From what we know from the surveys so far, the only practical way to avoid a hangover is to drink less alcohol.

 

 "Those who took food or water showed a slight statistical improvement in how they felt over those who didn't, but this didn't really translate into a meaningful difference."

 

"In general, we found a pretty straight relationship; the more you drink, the more likely you are to get a hangover," said Dr Verster. "The majority of those who in fact reported never having a hangover tended to drink less - perhaps less than they themselves thought would lead to a hangover."

 

Commenting on the research, psychologist Dr Michael Bloomfield, from University College London, said: "Throughout the world the economic and social costs of alcohol abuse run into hundreds of billions of euros per year. It's therefore very important to answer simple questions like 'how do you avoid a hangover?'

 

"Whilst further research is needed, this new research tells us that the answer is simple - 'drink less'."