New Year is the time of drinking, chocolates, silly resolutions, broken diet plans and, of course, hangovers. No matter how much we promise ourselves that we would limit our drinking, in the presence of friends and good times, it is so hard to say away from that vile and pleasurable vice.

And the next morning we wake up with a hangover that threatens to render us insane, before it drives us to suicide. Scientists must be quite fond of the bubbly themselves because it turns out researchers are still quite unsure of how to cure a hangover. But what causes a hangover in the first place? For that question, science has many answers. Starting from the top, that splitting headache you wake up with is a result of dehydration since alcohol prevents the release of hormones that retain water in the body leading to overworking of the kidney. Alcohol also reduces the quality of sleeping ensuring you wake up tired no matter how long you’ve slept.

Adding to the troubled sleep is the fact that you don’t feel your best after that great night out; puffy, bloodshot eyes add to the depressed and irritable mood caused by a drop on blood-sugar level and mood-enhancing chemicals in the brain. What’s more, the body would have flown into an over-alert state during alcohol consumption to help counterattack its sedative effect which results in a hyperactive state long after you wake up. Alcohol also interferes with the biological clock sending the production of hormones haywire and thus resulting in heightened body temperature, abdominal pains, nausea and vomiting, heightened heart beat, sweating, muscle cramps and more dehydration.

Quiet a party, these hangover symptoms! And the best (and worst) thing that scientists have to say about the cure of hangovers is (wait for it) to never drink! Like that’s going to ever happen..

Via: TimesOnline