Be Happy - Avoid alcohol.

Medically it is advised that if you drink alcoholic beverages, do so in moderation. Alcoholic beverages supply calories but few nutrients Taking more than one drink per day for women or two drinks per day for men can raise the risk for motor vehicle crashes, other injuries, high blood pressure, stroke, violence, suicide, and certain types of cancer. Even one drink per day can slightly raise the risk of breast cancer. Alcohol consumption during pregnancy increases risk of birth defects. Too much alcohol may cause social and psychological problems, cirrhosis of the liver, inflammation of the pancreas, and damage to the brain and heart. Heavy drinkers also are at risk of malnutrition because alcohol contains calories that may substitute for those in nutritious foods. Even a little alcohol exacerbates "inattentional blindness," a condition that makes it easy for you to miss something major (a deer) while you're concentrating on something else (a street sign). If adults choose to drink alcoholic beverages, they should consume them only in moderation—and with sufficient meals to slow alcohol absorption. But excessive alcohol consumption should never be afforded because it has been associated with high blood pressure and other diseases. It can create hangover also.

A hangover is characterized by the constellation of unpleasant physical and mental symptoms that occur after a bout of heavy alcohol drinking Alcohol Hangovers are a frequent, though unpleasant, experience among people who drink to intoxication. People experiencing a hangover feel ill and impaired. Although a hangover may impair task performance and thereby increase the risk of injury, equivocal data exist on whether hangover actually impairs complex mental tasks. Generally, the greater the amount and duration of alcohol consumption, the more prevalent is the hangover, although some people report experiencing a hangover after drinking low levels of alcohol (i.e., one to three alcoholic drinks), and some heavy drinkers do not report experiencing hangovers at all.

Generally, constitutional Fatigue, weakness, thirst, body pain, headache, muscle aches, Gastrointestinal Nausea, vomiting, stomach pain, Sleep and biological rhythms, Decreased sleep, slow-wave sleep, Sensory Vertigo and sensitivity to light and sound, Cognitive Decreased attention and concentration, Mood Depression, anxiety, and irritability, Sympathetic hyperactivity Tremor, sweating, and increased pulse, and systolic blood pressure, rapid eye movements are seen as salient after-effects of alcohol use. Alcohol may directly contribute to a hangover in several ways. Alcohol causes the body to increase urinary output. Even a little alcohol exacerbates "inattentional blindness," a condition that makes it easy for you to miss something major (a deer) while you're concentrating on something else (a street sign). retic). The consumption of 50 g of alcohol in 250 milliliters of water (i.e. approximately 4 drinks) causes the elimination of 600 to 1,000 mL (or up to 1 quart) of water over several hours because it promotes urine production by inhibiting the release of a hormone (i.e., antidiuretic hormone, or vasopressin) from the pituitary gland. In turn, reduced levels of anti-diuretic hormone prevent the kidneys from reabsorbing (i.e., conserving) water and thereby increase urine production. Sweating, vomiting, and diarrhea also commonly occur during a hangover, and these conditions can result in additional fluid loss and electrolyte imbalances. Symptoms of mild to moderate dehydration include thirst, weakness, dryness of mucous membranes, dizziness, and lightheadedness are all commonly observed during a hangover. Alcohol directly irritates the stomach and intestines, causing inflammation of the stomach lining (i.e., gastritis) and delayed stomach emptying, especially when beverages with a high alcohol concentration (i.e., greater than 15 percent) are consumed.

Alcohol consumption also can produce fatty liver, an accumulation of fat compounds called triglycerides and their components (i.e., free fatty acids) in liver cells. In addition, alcohol increases the production of gastric acid as well as pancreatic and intestinal secretions. Any or all of these factors can result in the upper abdominal pain, nausea, and vomiting experienced during a hangover. Several alterations in the metabolic state of the liver and other organs occur in response to the presence of alcohol in the body and can result in low blood sugar levels (i.e., low glucose levels, or hypoglycemia). Not only this, alcohol metabolism leads also fatty liver and a buildup of an intermediate metabolic product, lactic acid, in body fluids (i.e., lactic acidosis). Both of these effects can inhibit glucose production. Alcohol-induced hypoglycemia generally occurs after binge drinking over several days in alcoholics who have not been eating. In such a situation, prolonged alcohol consumption, coupled with poor nutritional intake, not only decreases glucose production but also exhausts the reserves of glucose stored in the liver in the form of glycogen, thereby leading to hypoglycemia. Because glucose is the primary energy source of the brain, hypoglycemia can contribute to hangover symptoms such as fatigue, weakness, and mood disturbances. Diabetics are particularly sensitive to the alcohol-induced alterations in blood glucose.

Despite the prevalence of hangovers, however, this condition is not well understood scientifically. Multiple possible contributors to the hangover state have been investigated, and researchers have produced evidence that alcohol can directly promote hangover symptoms through its effects on urine production, the gastrointestinal tract, blood sugar concentrations, sleep patterns, and biological rhythms. In addition, researchers postulate that effects related to alcohol’s absence after a drinking bout (i.e., withdrawal), alcohol metabolism, and other factors (e.g., biologically active, nonalcohol compounds in beverages; the use of other drugs; certain personality traits; and a family history of alcoholism) also may contribute to the hangover condition. Few of the treatments commonly described for hangover have undergone scientific evaluation.

No doubt, prehistoric people also experienced hangovers soon after they discovered alcohol. Despite its long history, however, hangover has received relatively scant formal attention from researchers. Little is known about the physiology underlying the hangover condition. For example, it is unclear whether hangover signs and symptoms are attributable to alcohol’s direct effects on the body, its aftereffects, or a combination of both. Similarly, investigators are uncertain about the degree to which hangover affects a person’s thinking and mentally controlled motor functions, a question with serious implications for activities such as job performance and driving.

In addition, researchers know little about hangover prevention and treatment. Although folk remedies for hangovers abound, their efficacy in reducing the intensity and duration of a hangover has not received systematic study. In fact, some researchers and clinicians question whether finding an effective treatment for hangovers is desirable, given that the hangover experience may deter some people from engaging in subsequent episodes of heavy drinking.

Now-a-days, the use of alcohol is increasing world over. Somewhere, it is used due to climatic reasons and somewhere, the people believe that it is an addition for enjoyment, forgetting their follies, to ignore their disasters, to provide them extra energy for some extra-ordinary work and/or many other reasons. But the alcohol does not provide any relief – just it makes you loose some consciousness and you justify your reason. It has all the bad effects as I told earlier. Some medical purpose of the use can be exception but in the prescribed limits only. It is therefore better to ignore at the initial stage and if you have tasted earlier and/or have got addicted, it must be given up with strong determination. Risk of alcohol abuse increases if your drinking starts at an early age. Some studies suggest that older people may become more sensitive to the effects of alcohol as they age.

Sooner alcohol is given up, better you will feel in due course of time. Be Happy – avoid Alcohol to the maximum possible.