Hang Over Effect

A hangover is caused by drinking too much. However, what level of alcohol consumption that triggers a hangover can vary from person to person. For some, a single alcoholic beverage could trigger the effect while in others it can take several drinks. It depends on a range of factors that include items like body mass, whether someone has eaten and what types of foods, general health, alcohol tolerance, and many others. Therefore there is a range of factors that contribute to the onset of a hangover in an individual.

The same can be said of the internal processes in which alcohol influences inside of the body. According to the Mayo clinic the various factors include (Mayo Clinic Staff, N.d.):

Alcohol causes your body to produce more urine.

Alcohol triggers an inflammatory response from your immune system.

Alcohol irritates the lining of your stomach.

Alcohol can cause your blood sugar to fall.

Alcohol causes your blood vessels to expand.

Alcohol can make you sleepy.

Alcoholic beverages contain ingredients called congeners.

All of these individual factors contribute to the onset of a headache after an episode of drinking alcohol.

Alcohol can also have several impacts on the body's hormonal system. One research effort considered the endocrine effects of alcohol and found that alcohol enhances glucose-induced insulin secretion, it has small effects on the thyroid functions and frequent drinkers can lower levels of thyroid hormones in their plasma due to liver damage, it increase cortisol levels, increases aldosterone secretion, and even levels of testosterone were found to be lower during drinking and during the hangover (Yikahri, Huttunen, & Harkonen, 1980). Thus there is ample evidence that the consumption of alcohol has many effects on the endocrine system. However, since alcohol affects so many different systems in the body it is difficult to point to any one mechanism as the source of a hangover or a headache (Swift & Davidson, 1998).

Works Cited

Mayo Clinic Staff. (N.d.). Hangovers. Retrieved from Mayo Clinic: http://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/hangovers/basics/causes/con-20025464

Swift, R., & Davidson, D. (1998). Alcohol Hangover: Mechanisms and Moderators. Alcohol Health & Research World, 54-60.

Yikahri, R., Huttunen, M., & Harkonen, M. (1980). Hormonal changes during alcohol intoxication and withdrawal. Pharmacol Biochem Behav, 131-137.