Medical Terminology for a Hangover

When you drink too much alcohol, you run the risk of a hangover in the morning--anyone who has excessively consumed alcohol knows this. However, experts in medicine--including researchers from the prestigious Mayo Clinic--carefully study this drinker's phenomenon and provide specific medical terminology for all things hangover-related. Examining what the experts have to say about hangovers is vital to an understanding--and avoiding--this unpleasant medical condition.

History

• Hangovers have been a subject of note to medical researchers since ancient times, say Drs. Robert Swift and Dena Davidson. Segments of the Old Testament, the writings of the ancient Greeks and even the hieroglyphics of the ancient Egyptians recount the medical problems of hangovers. British scholar William Hickey, report Swift and Davidson, wrote in 1768 that he awoke with "head aching horridly, pains of a violent nature in every limb, and deadly sickness at the stomach," due to a previous night of heavy drinking.

Identification

• The Mayo Clinic medically identifies a hangover as "a group of unpleasant signs and symptoms that can develop after drinking too much alcohol." These arise after elevated levels of alcohol in the bloodstream reach zero--usually in the morning after sleep. Although the world of medicine is packed with often-unintelligible jargon and terminology, medical experts such as those at the Mayo Clinic still use the term "hangover" to medically define the condition as a whole.

Features

• The unpleasant features of a hangover increase in number and severity with how much alcohol was consumed the night before. Physical symptoms of a hangover are medically defined by Swift and Davidson as headache, increased sensitivity to light, muscle aches, eye redness and thirst. Depression, irritability, mood problems and anxiety manifest as mental symptoms that are common hangover features.

Effects

• A hangover's effects can increase in intensity due to various medically recognized factors, states the Mayo Clinic. Drinking on an empty stomach causes more alcohol to be absorbed during the consumption period, intensifying later hangover symptoms. Smoking is linked with causing more unpleasant hangovers, as are alcoholic beverages darker in color, since they contain chemicals medically termed "congeners," which add flavor and coloration to alcohol. Congeners, says the Mayo Clinic, make hangover symptoms worse.

Prevention/Solution

• Although the most effective preventative measure to take against a hangover is simply not drinking or drinking in moderation (two drinks or fewer in a night), the medical community provides some expert advice on reducing the miseries of a hangover. For one, avoid drinking during a hangover to relieve symptoms--the "hair of the dog" treatment will only make matters worse, states the Mayo Clinic. Extra sleep will also help the body recover from a hangover, as will drinking plenty of water and fruit juice to replace body fluids lost from the dehydrating effect of alcohol.