Hangover cures don't work

For Christmas revellers it is sobering news. There are scores of hangover cures advertised on the net from Dr Ralph's Monday medicine to Nux Vomica. But none of them work, researchers say.

"No compelling evidence exists to suggest that any complementary or conventional intervention is effective for treating or preventing alcohol hangover," the authors of a study in the British Medical Journal say.

Taking a couple of paracetamol and a pint of water before bed is too simple for most. Bananas, barley grass, cabbage, charcoal tablets, eggs, exercise, green tea, hair of the dog (more alcohol), kidney dialysis, milkshake and Vegemite on toast are among recommended remedies.

A search of the medical literature revealed 15 trials of hangover cures from the blood pressure drug propanolol to a herbal treatment containing extract of artichoke. Most of the trials, which tested eight agents in all, showed no beneficial effect.

However, the researchers, led by Edzard Ernst, professor of complementary medicine at the University of Exeter, found encouraging results for borage, a herbal remedy with anti-inflammatory properties; a product based on dried yeast called Morning Fit; and tolfenamic acid, a painkiller.

Professor Ernst said a major problem preventing development of an effective cure for hangovers was the lack of information about the effect of alcohol on the body.

"We don't understand the mechanism of what a hangover is. We know it has to do with the toxic effects of alcohol and dehydration, but we don't know how it works."

Research on cures is inhibited by ethical concerns because success could induce heavier drinking. However, no evidence has shown that the threat of a hangover deters drinking.

"The fact that you suffer from a hangover means your body is telling you that you have been poisoned," said Professor Ernst. "And you have done it to yourself. So many people would be outraged if they had been poisoned in that way by someone else."

- INDEPENDENT