Hangover after binge-drinking sessions

In binge-drinking sessions or during heavy drinks the dimmed vision and mind black out are the common features. Especially it happens during festive moments when drinking becomes uncontrollable and the next morning becomes painful with hangovers.

The hangovers are not the simple biochemical process in our bodies but also manifest as the external physiological symptoms. People may say lots about dehydration factor of the body but actually, there are some scientific details about hangovers.

What is Hangover? Why does it happen?

1)  There are multiple biochemical effects, which happen in our body after the consumption of alcohol. It is not just restricted to head but the effects take place in different psychological areas.

2)   There is an anti-diuretic hormone named Vasopressin, which regulates water, salt, and sugar levels in the blood stream and helps to retain water for re-absorption. Now, with the consumption of the alcohol, the production and synthesis of vasopressin is affected. As a result, kidney cannot reabsorb the liquid in the body leading to the excess loss of water from the body causing dehydration and filling up the bladder than usual causing nagging headaches, termed as hangover.

3)   The fermentation of wine and alcohol produces chemical compounds called congeners. These chemicals impart distinct aromas to distilled liquors and signature tastes to non-distilled non-alcoholic beverages. The chemicals, namely aldehydes, acetaldehydes, ester alcohols, fusel alcohols are all toxic congeners. The metabolism of these toxic congeners in the liver requires certain enzymes. For instance, the metabolism of alcohol after its breakdown into acetaldehyde into more simple and harmless compounds requires enzymes like acetaldehyde dehydrogenase and glutathione. During these heavy drinking sessions, the breakdown of the alcohols and toxic congeners into non-toxic compounds is slow in comparison to the intake of alcohol. The replenishment of Glutathione takes a long time in the body. Therefore, alcohol and acetaldehyde stay in the body in toxic forms before chemically broken which lead to vomiting and nausea with headache, a very common with hangover symptoms. Vomiting is simply an attempt to expel excess alcohol from the body.