The Association between Ethanol Elimination Rate and Hangover Severity.

Marlou Mackus,Aurora Jae Van De Loo,Johan Garssen,Andrew Scholey,Aletta D Kraneveld,Joris C Verster

doi:10.3390/ijerph17124324

Abstract

Assessments in blood and saliva suggests that the amount of ethanol present in the first hours after alcohol consumption and into the following morning is associated with hangover severity. The current analysis determines how ethanol elimination rate is related to hangover severity reported throughout the day. n = 8 subjects participated in two studies. The first was a naturalistic study comprising an evening of alcohol consumption. Hangover severity was assessed hourly from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., using a 1-item hangover severity scale ranging from 0 (absent) to 10 (extreme). The second study comprised a highly controlled alcohol challenge to reach a breath alcohol concentration (BrAC) of 0.05%. Breathalyzer tests were conducted every 5 min until BrAC reached zero. The ethanol elimination rate, expressed in BrAC%/hour, was computed by dividing the peak BrAC (%) by the time to BrAC of zero (h). At 11:00, 13:00, and 14:00, there were significant negative partial correlations, controlling for estimated BrAC, between ethanol elimination rate and hangover severity. The findings suggest that drinkers with a faster ethanol elimination rate experience less severe hangovers. The observations should be confirmed in a larger sample of subjects who participate in a single study that assesses both hangover severity and ethanol elimination rate.

Highlights

The alcohol hangover refers to “the combination of negative mental and physical symptoms, which can be experienced after a single episode of alcohol consumption, starting when blood alcohol concentration (BAC) approaches zero” [1,2]
The current analysis directly investigated whether there is a relationship between ethanol elimination rate and hangover severity
Data from n = 8 subjects that participated in both an acute alcohol challenge experiment [27] and a hangover study [23] were evaluated to determine if hangover severity was related to the ethanol elimination rate

Summary

Introduction

The alcohol hangover refers to “the combination of negative mental and physical symptoms, which can be experienced after a single episode of alcohol consumption, starting when blood alcohol concentration (BAC) approaches zero” [1,2]. The relatively limited research attention to hangovers is of concern, because the hangover state is characterized by a variety of deleterious physical effects coupled with negative cognitive and mood changes [10]. These likely impact cognitive and psychomotor functioning [11], and daily activities including driving [12,13] and job performance [14]. To illustrate the societal impact of having hangovers, its annual economic costs due to absenteeism and presenteeism at work have been estimated $173 billion in US and $4 billion in UK [15,16]

Methods

Discussion

Conclusion