The Lasting Effects of Hangover

The effects of intoxication lasted long after the booze is out of your blood system, leaving a nasty hangover, slowing reaction time and the ability to concentrate the next morning.

Too much drinking the night before leaves you feeling out of sorts the next day. Despite still feeling tired, you would think that the worst is over, that you are now quite sober and that you can carry on as usual, including driving his car.

You should think twice.

A new study has found that it is not enough to just "sleep it off" after a night of drinking. The effects of intoxication lasted long after the booze is out of the blood system, not only leaving a nasty hangover but also slowing reaction times and the ability to concentrate.

Researchers from Rhode Island and Massachusetts had found that it does not matter whether the liquor you consumed was clear or dark, the level of brain impairment would still be the same after the alcohol leaves your blood system the next morning.

The findings were based on a study carried out looking at the effects of heavy drinking by 95 young adults between the ages of 21 and 33. The subjects spent two nights at the Boston test facility.

On one night, they were given alcohol (either vodka or bourbon mixed in cola) and on the other night, they were given a placebo. The researchers determined their blood alcohol levels, sleep patterns and ability to think quickly and over a long period of time.

To approximate the effects of drinking on an empty stomach, the researcher gave test subjects a standardized meal three hours before the test drinks. The alcohol were given until the subjects reached a minimum blood alcohol level of 0.09g per cent. In the United States, 0.08g per cent is considered legally drunk.

Previous research shows that symptoms of a hangover (headache, nausea and sleepiness) usually disappear within a few hours of waking. While this study did not measure how long impaired lasted but most probably that the performance effects would be gone within a few hours later.

Vodka and bourbon are on the opposite extremes of the spectrum of alcohol purity, vodka is the most free of impurities while bourbon has the highest level - all other alcohols are somewhere in between.

Previous research had shown that the higher the level of impurities, the lousier a drinker is likely to feel the next day but this study showed that impairment was the same.

Bourbon or vodka would not make any difference, the important thing was the alcohol itself.
Subjects given alcohol the night before thought their ability to drive was as good as or better than those who were administered the placebo.

It might be a good rule of the thumb to wait until they do not feel so lousy the next morning before doing any activities that might involve operating dangerous equipment.

The researchers chose to study young adults because there are more heavy drinkers among this age group.

As a result, this finding can be applied only to people between the ages of 21 and 33.

Older adults could be affects differently for physiological reasons and experience reasons.