Consumer Awareness Journal
Get Rid Of A Hangover

Trying to get rid of a hangover can be like trying to get rid of your noisy next-door neighbors. It just won't leave, and it certainly won't give you any peace and quiet. The pounding headache, the nausea, the spinning room, the fatigue, the weakness, the stomach ache and the knotted bowls are there to stay whether you like it or not.

There are a million different folk remedies and medications that claim they can help you get rid of a hangover, and while some may work better than others, there really isn't anyway you can alleviate it immediately. The best things I've found to help get rid of a hangover are time and fluids. Hangovers are chiefly caused by two things; dehydration and the alcohol metabolite acetalaldehyde. Bringing in a lot of fluids will help alleviate both of these problems. Dehydration is obviously helped when you drink fluids, and the alcohol metabolites will also hasten their departure from your body if you are flushing them out with plenty of liquid.

So just drinking a lot of water, juices, or Gatorade can help you get rid of your hangover faster. The only problem is it can be hard to do so if you are extremely nauseas. If you are nauseas, don't force yourself to drink. Take very small sips, and steadily increase your fluid intake as you feel better. Once your nausea has subsided enough for you to eat, you are in the clear. If you can keep a meal down you can then drink fluids more rapidly, as well as take any medications you want to help treat your hangover. The medications I recommend most are common analgesics, like ibuprofen, or aspirin, aluminum hydroxide and Uncle Rummy's Hangover Helper to settle your stomach.

Yale University
Smoking Indicator of Alcohol Misuse

Where there is cigarette smoking there is probably misuse of alcohol too, according to a study by Yale School of Medicine researchers in the Archives of Internal Medicine.

"This means cigarette smoking status can be used as a clinical indicator for alcohol misuse, which presents an opportunity for intervention," said the principal investigator, Sherry McKee, assistant professor of psychiatry.

She said that although brief screening and brief intervention provided in primary care settings are effective, clinicians do not frequently screen for alcohol misuse. This is a matter of concern because 26 percent of the U.S. population is drinking at hazardous levels, which puts them at increased risk for alcohol-related consequences such as injuries from motor vehicle crashes, hypertension, depression, and certain cancers.

"Only an estimated 30 percent of individuals who had a primary care visit reported being screened for an alcohol or drug use problem," McKee said. "Physicians are much more likely to ask patients whether and how often they smoke."

By Emma Drosy
www.getputon.com

It was a night you imbibed with your friends, happy and feeling wonderful. Now, why do you need to suffer from nausea and headache the next day? This should not be. However, your body is dehydrated due to the alcohol you take in the night before, you need to get rid of your hangover immediately.

What you usually do?

· Take another alcoholic drink in the morning. This is because you believe this to be the solution, but no, it is not. Taking another drink the morning after is a shortcut to alcoholism.

· Take an aspirin to reduce the headache. This is also not good because you subject your kidney to serious damage because alcohol and aspirin do not blend well.

· Stay in bed. This may not be good as well; it is better if you take a walk to help your system metabolize the alcohol. Exercise is actually best.

Tips to get rid of hangover

· Drink plenty of water; this will bring back your system to a hydrated state.

· Drink a cup of coffee. The caffeine in coffee will help reduce your swollen blood vessels. Inflammation of the blood vessels is the cause of hangover.

· Take a bowl of hot chicken soup. The salt and potassium in the chicken soup will help you overcome queasiness.

· You may also take fruit juice to help in metabolizing the alcohol in your blood.

· Eat crackers or muffin. If you take mild food with honey, it will be more helpful. This is because honey will help you breakdown the alcohol and speed its metabolism.