Editorial Current Drug Abuse Reviews, 2012, Vol. 5, No.

1 1
Editorial
The Need for an Effective Hangover Cure
The alcohol hangover, i.e. the feeling of general misery the day after heavy drinking, is characterized by several symptoms
including headache, tiredness, concentration problems, thirst, dizziness, nausea, cognitive impairment, and mood changes [1].
Already more than three thousand years ago the Suruta Samhit, an old Indian textbook on Vedic medicine, described the
alcohol hangover state. It was called paramada and characterized by thirst, pain in the head and joints, heaviness of the body,
and loss of taste [2]. The Suruta Samhit did not provide any treatment or cure for hangovers. Although alcohol hangovers are
still the most commonly reported negative consequence of alcohol consumption [3], no effective treatment is available yet [4,
5]. Whereas treatments for most diseases have significantly improved over the past 3000 years, the alcohol hangover has been
largely neglected by the scientific community.
The reasons for this lack of attention are unclear, especially given the negative impact of alcohol hangover on daytime
functioning. The latter is reflected by the fact that alcohol hangovers have significant socioeconomic consequences [6]. That is,
hangovers may result in absenteeism and reduced productivity at work, increase the risk of injury, and cause people to fail to
fulfill their social obligations [7-9]. Hence, from a financial and social perspective it would be wise to develop an effective
hangover treatment, and it is therefore surprising that pharmaceutical companies have not been active in this research area.
It has been suggested that it is unethical to develop an effective treatment for hangovers, because this may encourage alcohol
consumption. A hangover is seen as a punishment for excessive alcohol consumption that prevents similar drinking behavior on
future occasions. There is however no scientific evidence that supports this assumption. Whereas during the hangover state
people often state they will never drink again (that much), reality learns that people do not learn from their mistakes.
Hence, most people do not adapt their future drinking behavior after having experienced a hangover [10]. On the contrary,
heavier drinking students overestimated the amount of alcohol they can consume without experiencing a next-day hangover
[10].
There is considerable commercial interest in the alcohol hangover, given the large number of cures available on the internet.
Although websites often claim that their product has proven to be effective in reducing the presence and severity of hangover
symptoms, this is generally not true. In fact, placebo-controlled clinical trials examining the effectiveness of their products are
lacking, or the product showed limited or no efficacy [4, 5]. As a result, no hangover treatment has been approved by FDA.
The call for effective treatment from those who experience hangovers is clear. As an example, the statistics from a French
website on alcohol hangover (www.gueuledebois.info) show that the days on which alcohol consumption is most likely to be
increased (Friday and Saturday) are followed by a significant increase in page views (see Fig. 1).











Fig. (1). Number of visits on a French website on hangovers (http://gueuledebois.info) from October 1
st
2011 to January 2
nd
2012.
Each peak correspond to a Sunday. Note the large peak at New Years day. The peak at November 1
st
corresponds to the day after Halloween
(31 October). The peak at November 11
th
corresponds to a legal holiday in France (Armistice day). Data were obtained via Google Analytics
(J anuary 3
rd
2012).
Fig. (1) also shows a large increase in page views on J anuary 1st, 2012. New Years Eve is for many people an occasion on
which they consume more alcohol than regularly, including beverages that they do not consume on a regular basis (e.g.
champagne). It is evident that this increases the chance of having a (more severe) hangover. The latter is reflected by the
increased number of page views on J anuary 1
st
.
In conclusion, Fig. (1) suggests that there is a clear need for an effective hangover cure, and should inspire both alcohol
researchers and pharmaceutical companies to increase their interest in this neglected research area.

2 Current Drug Abuse Reviews, 2012, Vol. 5, No. 1 Editorial
REFERENCES
[1] Verster J C, Stephens R, Penning R, et al. The Alcohol Hangover Research Group consensus statement on best practice in alcohol hangover research.
Curr Drug Abuse Rev 2010; 3: 116-27.
[2] Srikantha Murthy KR. Illustrated Suruta Samhit. Volume III. Chaukhambha Orientalia, Varanasi, India 2008.
[3] Verster J C, Van Herwijnen J , Olivier B, Kahler CW. Validation of the Dutch Brief Young Adult Alcohol Consequences Questionnaire (B-YAACQ).
Addictive Behav 2009; 34: 411-4
[4] Pittler MH, Verster J C, Ernst E. Interventions for preventing or treating alcohol hangover: systematic review of randomized trials. BMJ 2005; 331:
1515-8.
[5] Verster J C, Penning R. Treatment and prevention of alcohol hangover. Curr Drug Abuse Rev 2010; 3: 103-9.
[6] Harwood H. Updating estimates of the economic costs of alcohol abuse in the United States: Estimates, update methods, and data. Report prepared by
the Lewin Group for the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, 2000.
[7] Frone MR. Prevalence and distribution of alcohol use and impairment in the workplace: a U.S. national survey. J Stud Alcohol 2006; 67: 147-56.
[8] Gjerde H, Christophersen AS, Moan IS, et al. Use of alcohol and drugs by Norwegian employees: a pilot study using questionnaires and analysis of
oral fluid. J Occup Med Toxicol 2010; 5: 13.
[9] Kim J , Chung W, Lee S, Park C. Estimating the socioeconomic costs of alcohol drinking among adolescents in Korea. J Prev Med Public Health 2010;
43: 341-51.
[10] Mallett KA, Lee CM, Neighbors C, Larimer ME, Turrisi R. Do we learn from our mistakes? An examination of the impact of negative alcohol-related
consequences on college students drinking patterns and perceptions. J Stud Alcohol 2006; 67: 269-76.


Joris C. Verster
(Editor-in-Chief)
Utrecht University
Utrecht Institute for Pharmaceutical Sciences
Division of Pharmacology
Utrecht
The Netherlands
E-mail: j.c.verster@uu.nl