What Is A Hangover?

Hangover is defined as:

• Unpleasant physical effects following the heavy use of alcohol.
• Disagreeable physical effects (as headache or nausea) following heavy consumption of alcohol or the use of drugs.
• Disagreeable aftereffects from the use of drugs (especially alcohol).
• The unpleasant physical effects following heavy consumption of alcohol or the use of drugs.

Hangovers are also known as: veisalgia, katzenjammer, aftereffect, big head, crapulence, crown fire, delirium tremens, drunkenness, DTs, feebles, head, headache, morning after, shakes, shot, and the willies.

Hangover caused by alcohol is associated with a variety of symptoms that may include dehydration, tiredness, headache, nausea, weakness, difficulty concentrating, anxiety, irritability, sensitivity to light and noise and trouble sleeping. The most commonly reported characteristics of a hangover are feelings of extreme thirst (dehydration), feelings of being more tired than usual, nausea and headaches.

Hangover Dehydration. Consumption of ethanol alcohol has a rapid diuretic effect, meaning that more urine than usual is produced, since ethanol inhibits the production of antidiuretic hormone.

Overconsumption of alcohol can therefore lead to dehydration (the loss of water). It is difficult to replenish the body's fluids using only alcoholic beverages. As large amounts of alcohol are consumed, the diuretic effect causes the body to lose more water than is contained in the beverage. This property of alcohol causes the headaches and extreme thirst of a hangover.





Portions of this article are licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Hangover".