Hangover? keep drinking

[Super Nova]

I had 2 drinks of methanol in a Jakarta nightclub years ago... they substituted good stuff with this poison to make money. Thought I was buying a regular drink. The headache was bloody awful and had to leave. It stayed with me for 24 hours. It was intense like a very bad hangover. The worst hangover ever and only on 2 drinks.

There maybe something in this theory.

Hangover? Scientists say keep drinking

All alcoholic drinks contain trace amounts of methanol, which is toxic

Some people swear by a bacon sandwich, energy drinks or painkillers, but now scientists are converging on the view that “hair of the dog” may be among the more plausible hangover cures.

It had previously been assumed that drinking a Bloody Mary was effective because it tipped individuals with a hangover back into a state of sufficient inebriation that they became less aware of their nausea and headaches.

However, Adam Rogers, author of Proof: the Science of Booze, believes there may be a scientific explanation for why alcohol relieves the symptoms of a hangover after a night of heavy drinking.

“There is some evidence that ‘hair of the dog’ makes you feel better, but the question is why it does this, and importantly whether it’s really a good idea,” he said.

In addition to the main alcoholic ingredient, ethanol, all alcoholic drinks contain trace amounts of methanol, which is toxic. In higher concentrations it can cause blindness and death because it is converted in the body to the poison formaldehyde, which is often used for preserving anatomical specimens. The levels of methanol in commercially produced alcoholic drinks are very low, but the cumulative effect of excessive drinking may be enough to cause hangover symptoms.

Medical treatment for methanol poisoning involves giving patients ethanol, which blocks the conversion into formaldehyde. “If methanol poisoning is at least in part responsible for a hangover, having a drink the next morning may alleviate symptoms,” said Mr Rogers, although he stressed that the science was “very hypothetical” at this stage.

Lauren Owen, a psychopharmacologist at Keele University and a member of the Alcohol Hangover Research Group, agreed there was some scientific support for the idea. “Alcohol acts on a number of chemicals in the brain to increase feelings of pleasure,” she said. “Reduction of hangover symptoms by ‘hair of the dog’ may also be due to the activity of alcohol on neurotransmitter systems.”

Other factors commonly thought to cause hangovers, such as dehydration and changes in blood sugar levels, appear to be less firmly grounded in scientific evidence, said Mr Rogers, who added: “You can get rid of the dehydration and you are still hungover.”
http://www.thetimes.co.uk/tto/science/a ... 184825.ece