“So, largely what’s been relied on is self-report measures: tell me on a scale of one to 10 how hungover you feel, or to what extent you have the symptoms – everything from anxiety to vomiting. “Research hasn’t been really able to establish any sort of a biomarker of hangover,” says Adams (who doesn’t use a preceding article). “Anything before that is still intoxication, technically,” says Adams.īecause it’s so hard to define, a hangover is also hard to measure. While it may be difficult to pinpoint when exactly a hangover ends, it begins, officially, when your blood alcohol level reaches zero. “We don’t really know all of the mechanisms that contribute to hangover.”Īdams, who includes the alcohol hangover in her areas of specialist interest, is at least able to offer a definition: “A range of psychological and physical symptoms that are experienced the day after an episode of drinking … It used to be that it was ‘heavy drinking’, but even a small amount of alcohol can give some people the symptoms.” “There have been hundreds of thousands of studies done on alcohol, intoxication and consumption, but hangover research is still in its infancy,” says Dr Sally Adams, an associate professor of psychology at the University of Birmingham. Morning-after symptoms vary widely in their nature and intensity, depending on circumstances, genetics and other factors known and unknown. It’s easy to define drunkenness – it’s just a measure of the alcohol in your blood – but very difficult to define a hangover. ‘If a pill could eliminate hangovers, wouldn’t it do away with the main deterrent against the overconsumption of alcohol?’ Photograph: Antonio Olmos/The Guardianīy the afternoon, I feel OK, but on the strength of these initial findings I’m forced to consider the possibility that I’m immune to Myrkl. How many Covid tests have been squandered in the past two years in the same spirit of denial? I’m so surprised by this that for a few hours I’m convinced I have Covid. I wake the next day in a dreadful state: my head hurts, my throat is sore and I feel as if I have barely slept. ![]() I apologise if you heard me playing the piano at 11.30pm. On this occasion, I worry that I’ve shown too much restraint for the purposes of the experiment, so I drink another large glass of wine as soon as I get in. ![]() I tend to measure my intake by how fun I’ve been. It’s hard to gauge exactly how much alcohol one consumes at a dinner party. I take my first dose about two hours before going out. Each capsule is full of powdery beige stuff – rice bran laced with a probiotic culture and vitamin B12. The recommended dosage of Myrkl is two capsules, taken between one and 12 hours before the consumption of alcohol. ![]() But I managed to get myself a packet and, armed with a load of booze, put the pill to the test. The publicity spurred by the company’s claims meant that Myrkl, which costs £30 for 30 pills, sold out before its UK launch this week. A double-blind study with 24 participants, funded by De Faire, concluded that using the pills for a week did indeed result in “a substantially lower uptake of alcohol into the blood”. The company claims the pill breaks down “up to 70% of alcohol consumed within 60 minutes”. The pill contains a proprietary supplement intended to metabolise alcohol into carbon dioxide and water in the intestinal tract and thus reduce the amount of alcohol absorbed by the bloodstream and prevent organ damage. In a press release, the CEO says its purpose is to help “regular moderate drinkers to wake up feeling their best the next day”. It refers to Myrkl (pronounced “miracle”, not “Merkel”) as a “pre‑drinking” pill. The company’s publicity material is a bit more cautious. ![]() Articles reporting its launch have referred to it as a “hangover prevention pill” and a “scientifically backed hangover cure”. Myrkl – a probiotic remedy developed by the Swedish company De Faire Medical – is said to be the first hangover pill that works.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |