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YES! Finally a drug to cure hangovers

sinntress

Bluelighter
Joined
Jun 12, 2002
Messages
224
COULD IT REALLY BE TRUE?!
Have the british actually developed a pill that cures the deadly hangover? I saw on an ad for the news about this, but i missed the actual report as i was snoozzing........
So is it really true? Or are they still testing it? Coz i know that i would pay ANYTHING (well almost) for one of these babies
 
I saw the story on Ten's late night news (and still have it on tape so I just watched the story again) - they devoted about 15 seconds to it so it's obviously a big issue, hehhehe... ;)
Basicly, it's called "Xetox", and it works by "removing the alcohol from your system, so there's no alcohol left to cause a hangover". It's based on volcanic dust in a capsule or something - and you have to take several before you go out...
Needless to say, the medical profession isn't too sure about it - but it's undergoing tests soon so we'll see what happens... they also raised concerns that it would promote binge drinking, because a lot of the noticable negative effects of drinking to an unhealthy level would be gone...
I'll try to find some more info about it... :)
[ 18 July 2002: Message edited by: Pleonastic ]
 
It probably is true. Maybe the British Govt.'s a bit concerned about the dent that ecstasy's made in their alcohol market in the last 10 years?? Time to encourage all those kiddies to get on the booze again so they can recoup some of those taxable pounds!
 
Volcanic hangover cure
A hangover cure based on volcanic dust may soon be on the shop shelves, according to a UK company.
A West Sussex firm wants to start clinical trials of the mineral.
It claims the pills, which can already be bought over the internet, absorb toxins from alcohol "like Velcro".
Global Health Products (GHP) wants to sell the product in chemists and health food shops.
It is trying to raise £300,000 from investors to market the supplement, known as Zetox.
Morning after
The company says the mineral has been used as a traditional detoxifying agent for filtering water, purifying animal feed and treating victims of nuclear contamination from Chernobyl.
It already sells the product on its website as a supplement "to naturally detoxify the body".
Dr Kenneth Maule, the man who developed it, claims six capsules of Zetox will enable you to drink four or five pints without getting a headache.
The pills have to be taken before a night out and according to one volunteer, Gary Lock, it works.
"It removes nearly all of the alcohol from his system so there's no alcohol left in his body to give him a hangover," Paul King of GHP told the BBC.
Trials needed
Hangovers are caused by chemicals produced when alcohol is broken down by the body.
Alcohol is also a diuretic, causing dehydration and the familiar headaches and nausea.
Dr Guy Ratcliffe of the UK Medical Council on Alcohol said the substance sounded "potentially promising".
He told BBC News Online: "If this chemical soaks up, as it suggests, the chemicals that are associated with a hangover, I can understand the potential that this sort of chemical might produce for the future."
But he said formal clinical trials were needed to compare the effects of the product with that of a placebo.
And there are fears that the tablets will encourage people to binge drink.
Medical researcher Robert Patton said heavy drinking is known to cause heart, liver and other health problems.
"The pills won't sort those out," he told the BBC. "It may stop the pain of a hangover the morning after."
Source: BBC News Online
 
I wonder if its anything like alcohol kombat
and also something to read
Why Do Hangovers Happen?
This is the big question. Probably unsurprisingly, the answer is fairly complex. If there was a single simple reason for all that pain, you can be sure that a catch-all cure would have been discovered long ago. As it is, there is a positive cocktail of effects, all of which conspire to make 'the morning after' a grim one.
Assorted Poisons
Pure ethanol1 is metabolically fairly clean, and confirmed vodka drinkers will often bring this up as justification for their habit, and explanation for their resistance to hangovers. In many ways, they are quite correct. If you consider an alcoholic beverage to be water, ethanol, and a bunch of flavourings, then the identity of some of those flavourings is quite frightening. Red wines contain all sorts of interesting chemicals, leading to the complex flavourings typical of the breed, and although many of these impurities - such as arsenic - are poisonous, they are usually present in such minute quantities as to be relatively harmless. However, if the wine is concentrated by distillation2, then as well as increasing the alcohol content, you are also concentrating the poisons. This is the reason that brandy, port and cheap red wine can give you the most monstrous hangovers, as well as gout in later life.
It is also for this reason that people are often advised not to 'mix their drinks'. Different styles of drink have different impurities, and some of them can react with one another in interesting ways. Some common aides memoire from English folklore are:-
Don't mix the grape and the grain. Keep wine/port/brandy separate from beer/whisky.
Beer then wine, I feel fine. Wine then beer, I feel queer.
Dehydration
This is the most well-documented consequence of drinking. In addition to its intoxicating qualities, ethanol also has diuretic3 qualities, so you end up expelling more liquid than you drink. It acts on the brain's pituitary gland and blocks production of a hormone called vasopressin, which usually directs the kidneys to reabsorb water that would otherwise end up in the bladder. Once this hormonal signal has been switched off, there is nothing to stop the bladder from filling up with all the water from the fluid that you drink. A supply of water is essential to the continuing functioning of the body, and when various organs find that their normal supply of water has been cut off, they steal it from anywhere they can, including the cells of the brain. Although the brain itself cannot feel pain, when it starts to shrink due to water loss, pain-sensitive filaments connecting the outside membranes to the inside of the skull become stretched, giving the symptoms of a headache.
Free Radical Build-up
In simple terms, the liver's job is to destroy poisons which are present in the body, and when you start drinking it sets to work on destroying the ethanol. However, this process generates destructively reactive chemicals called free radicals. These are usually mopped up by an enzyme called glutathione, but during a binge, reserves can run low, leaving the free radicals to run riot through the liver.
Loss of Salts
Frequent visits to the toilet not only result in the loss of water, but also of the important salts dissolved in it. Potassium and sodium ions in particular are essential for the optimal functioning of nerves and muscles. An imbalance outside a limited range can result in nausea, fatigue, and headaches.
Loss of Sugar
Alcohol attacks the body's store of glycogen, an important energy source kept in the liver, breaking it down to glucose which is then flushed out in the urine. Without this store of energy on call next morning, you are left feeling weak and wobbly.
Methanol
Methanol is a simpler cousin of ethanol, and is found as a contaminant in cheap red wines, whisky and fruit brandy. This is 'meths', the fuel alcohol that makes you blind if you drink too much of it. The liver attacks it as the poison it is, but one of the break-down products is formic acid, a particularly nasty chemical which ants use to spray at their attackers.
The Cures
Berocca
Sold in Australia specifically as a vitamin supplement, but widely recognised as a hangover cure, these small tubes contain all the chemicals that are lost and destroyed in a drinking session, in the correct proportions. In its native land, Berocca is often handed out free to delegates every morning at week-long conferences. Many Australians would not consider going on a binge without a supply of Berocca to hand.
Berocca is now available in the UK from Boots the Chemist. It is marketed as a pick-me-up for business meetings, but drinkers know better!
For completeness, here are the ingredients of Berocca:
Listed ingredient
Translation
Thiamine nitrate
Vitamin B1
Riboflavine sodium phosphate
Equivalent to vitamin B2
Nicotinamide
Calcium pantothenate
Equivalent to vitamin B5
Pyridoxine hydrochloride
Vitamin B6
Cyanocobalamin
Vitamin B12
Biotin
Vitamin H
Ascorbic Acid
Vitamin C
Calcium carbonate
A source of calcium
Sucrose
Sugar
Sodium Chloride
Salt
Caffeine
A good strong cup of coffee or tea will perk you up at any time of day, but that's just the caffeine stimulating your tired body. It doesn't
actually cure anything, and if you're at the stage when you can keep hot drinks down then you're probably on the road to recovery anyway. In addition, caffeine is also a diuretic, and you don't want to be losing any more water at this stage of the game, so from this viewpoint it may be best to avoid tea, coffee, cola, Red Bull and the like4.
Eggs
Many traditional hangover cures, such as Prairie Oysters, omelettes and the English Fried Breakfast, involve eggs. Others swear by the efficacy of a downed raw egg in the morning. The reason that these are thought to work at all is probably that eggs also contain cysteine5, and so help to mop up free radicals.
Hair of the Dog
A tot of alcohol in the morning. For some particularly nasty hangovers, this can be useful, although the bad news is that the effect is only temporary. The liver attacks poisons in a certain order, with ethanol first. Once all the ethanol has been broken down, it starts on the methanol, which releases formic acid into your system and makes you feel bad. Hitting the liver with another dose of ethanol causes it to stop processing methanol and start on the new threat, but the methanol will have to be processed sometime so you are only postponing the hangover until later.
Hot Showers
Another way of relieving a headache is to sit in a really hot, really powerful shower, and get the full force of it on the back of your neck. This may need some juxtaposition of plastic chairs and shower settings, so it might be an idea to practice first while sober, but it is worthwhile because headaches are often caused by constricted blood vessels and tense neck muscles. A massage under a hot shower relaxes the tension.
Isotonic6 Sports Drinks
In theory these are a great idea, for they are supposed to replace all the salts and sugars that are sweated out during athletic activity - surely much the same thing as we are trying to achieve here. The problem is that, due to market forces, they are usually fizzy, and probably the last thing you need while suffering a hangover is a bellyful of bloating gas. However, if you don't mind, or if you can find a flat one, it's definitely worth doing. One variation on the sports drink theme is a 50:50 mix of Tropical Tango and Red Bull.
Kidney Dialysis
Since you cannot depend on your kidneys to filter your blood properly after a binge, you could get a machine to do it for you. Admittedly most people don't have access to a dialysis machine, but if you can stand getting hooked up by nurses armed with needles while still drunk, you can be sober in four or five hours without any ill effects.
N-acetyl-cysteine (NAC)
An amino acid supplement sold in health food stores, this is extremely good at mopping up the free radicals that have built up in the liver. NAC works because it is rich in cysteine, another amino acid that is used by the body in the manufacture of free radical-eliminating glutathione. For those in the know, this is a very effective hangover remedy, and is especially good if you need a clear head in the morning.
Oxygen
Popular wisdom dictates a brisk walk in fresh mountain air to dispel those post-binge blues, but the problem is that when you really need it, the last thing you're capable of doing is getting up off the floor, let alone going out into the outside world. The theory is that the increased oxygen flow improves the metabolic rate, and thus increases the speed at which the poisons are broken down. Be that as it may, SCUBA divers have long known that a blast from the tank first thing in the morning does wonders in blowing away the fog.
Pinching your Hand
There is a nerve junction between the thumb and forefinger on your left hand which is reputed to be an acupressure point which can release tension in the head and neck. If you pinch it quite hard for 30 seconds every five minutes, normal tension headaches can be relieved. It's certainly worth trying if you can't keep down any painkillers...
Resolve
Sold in the UK as a stomach settler, this is a powder that becomes a fizzy drink when added to water, and contains a painkiller and some anti-acid chemicals. Another common brand, although without the painkiller, is Alka Seltzer which comes in tablet form. For our purposes, these are best taken before going to bed, as the chances are that in the morning you won't be able to keep it down. It can work marvels, especially if followed in the morning by a vitamin supplement such as Berocca. The ingredients listed for Resolve are:
Listed ingredient
Translation
Paracetamol
Painkiller
Ascorbic Acid
Vitamin C
Citric Acid
Sodium bicarbonate, Potassium bicarbonate, Sodium carbonate
All are antacids
Glucose, Saccharin sodium, Sucrose
Sugars
Salt Solution
Research on small mammals has shown that a poisoned digestive system is much better at taking up an isotonic solution than it is at
taking up pure water. So, if you're going to drink water, put a spoonful of salt in it, and a couple more of sugar to increase the concentration and mask the taste. While you're at it, you might as well throw in some powdered painkillers, although bear in mind that some studies have shown that paracetamol7 can amplify alcohol's damaging effect on the liver. As with any medication, read the packet carefully
Water
The traditional hangover remedy, with folklore dictating that you should quaff a pint of water for every drink that you have consumed. Undeniably this has some ameliorative effect, but because your kidneys' water-absorption function has been switched off, a lot of it goes straight to your bladder, noticeably causing nocturnal trips to the bathroom and little else.
Disclaimer
Please note that we take no responsibility for any ill effects caused by the remedies suggested here: you try them at your own risk. Nobody should mix their medicines. Similarly nobody should drink ten pints of lager and then eat a curry. You have been warned.
 
also found this
How does alcohol affect the body?
Alcohol is not good for your system. It is a toxin; however when imbibed in moderate quantities, the body has natural defensive mechanisms that will combat and neutralise its effects. The liver is your principle defence against the assault of alcohol. Let's look at how alcohol reacts with your body.
Alcohol is an anaesthetic. It depresses the nervous system, and affects all parts of your body controlled by the brain. It impairs your ability to make appropriate judgements and to exercise self-control.
As you take a drink, a small amount of alcohol enters the bloodstream directly through the tissues of the mouth and throat. By the time it reaches the stomach, 30 to 40 percent of the alcohol can be absorbed in 20 minutes if you have a full stomach. Anything that will retain alcohol in the stomach (food) will prolong the absorption period. When your stomach is empty, the alcohol passes directly into the small intestine, where rapid absorption into the bloodstream takes place. An empty stomach will allow rapid passage of alcohol into the small intestine, which will hasten the rate of absorption (you'll get inebriated sooner).
The bloodstream then distributes the alcohol throughout your body and eventually the brain.
The alcohol that is absorbed from the stomach and small intestine enters the portal vein that leads directly to the liver, the major detoxifying organ of the body. The blood is then pumped through the lungs and throughout the rest of the body.
Typically about 30% of all consumed alcohol is absorbed from the stomach whereas 70% is absorbed from the small intestine. Factors that effect the rate of absorption include:
the type and nature of alcoholic beverages
the concentration of the alcoholic beverage
the type of food and quantity of food consumed
the sex of the individual
body weight and body water content
experience with alcohol, metabolic disposition and other physical, biological and physiological factors.
How the body processes alcohol
Alcohol does not simply pass through you. Like many things we eat or drink, it is broken down and eliminated. Disposing of alcohol in your body takes more time than consuming it. The process of alcohol being broken-down in your body is called oxidation. Alcohol is separated into carbon dioxide and water. More than 90% of the alcohol is oxidized in the liver.
In the liver, the ethanol in the alcohol is broken down into different ingredients and disposed. As part of this process, the liver converts the ethyl alcohol into methanol. Researchers feel excess amounts of methanol in the system is responsible for the nausea the morning after.
The remainder is discharged unchanged through the lungs, kidneys, tears, saliva and perspiration. You cannot exercise, dance, sing, or cry away alcohol. Frequent urination does not help. The rate of elimination is unaffected by a person's weight or tolerance to alcohol. It takes as long for the experienced drinker to eliminate alcohol as it does for the inexperienced drinker.
How the body disposes alcohol
Eliminating alcohol from the body begins shortly after it is consumed and continues until it has been totally removed. It isaccomplished by two separate means: metabolism and excretion. About 90 to 98% of the total amount of alcohol consumed is removed by metabolism, mostly in the liver by changing it to other compounds. An enzyme called alcohol dehydrogenase creates this reaction. The non-toxic end products and carbon dioxide are excreted from the body.
For a 150-pound man, the amount of alcohol that can be eliminated from the body in one hour is approximately 25mL of 40% v/v liquor (about one ounce of liquor, one bottle of beer or one glass of wine).
 
Originally posted by Pleonastic:
Basicly, it's called "Xetox", and it works by "removing the alcohol from your system, so there's no alcohol left to cause a hangover". It's based on volcanic dust in a capsule or something - and you have to take several before you go out...
Does this mean you wouldn't get drunk?
If it actually does work by removing alcohol from your system, then not just the noticeable effects of drinking will be gone, but all effects. If it works quickly enough, this could include liver and brain damage. But on the other hand, who would bother drinking toxic amounts if they couldn't get drunk?
I guess I just don't see it. The only way I can "cure" a hangover is to drink more. Or not drink in the first place. Other options just mask the symptoms.
 
If you're looking for a hangover cure try ranitidine tablets (the brand name is Zantac)
If you take one before you go out, and one about 12 hours later, you'll be surprised at how good you feel the next day. But a warning: it can reduce tolerance to alcohol, so if you're trying it for the first time, be aware that you might not need to drink as much as normal (this could obviously have significant benefits, but it's a warning none the less)
I can't remember the exact way it works, but it is to do with the way this antacid works in the first place, which is to prevent the release of acid into the stomach in the first place, which is why it works better taking it before you go out.
I wonder how different these volcano tabs are from charcoal tabs. they sound quite similar on the surface...
 
SeveredPsyche: The bit I put in quotation marks about removing the alcohol from your system so you don't get a hangover is a direct quote from the inventor... I watched the tape of the 10 news story and wrote what he said word for word...
And I was thinking exactly what you were thinking. It's probably also the reason why medical people seem to think it'll encourage binge drinking - cos you won't feel the effects as much so you'll have to drink more... which also probably means that you won't realise how pissed you are, and you'll end up driving home at 0.13 BAC...
 
Yeah I noticed you were quoting and realise you wouldn't come out with statements like that. Unfortunately I don't have time right now to read all the above posts (something stupid like work gets in the way), but I was referring to all the effects of alcohol, not just being drunk. What I mean is, if it actually removes the alcohol from the body (no idea how that would achieved) then there wouldn't be intoxication, but there also wouldn't be damage either no matter how much you drink. You wouldn't feel pissed because your BAC wouldn't be very high at all. Therefore, safe to drive?
I guess it depends on how far the alcohol gets through your system before it is "removed".
Just read this:
Medical researcher Robert Patton said heavydrinking is known to cause heart, liver and other health problems.
"The pills won't sort those out," he told the BBC. "It may stop the pain of a hangover the morning after."
Okay, there goes that idea.
[ 18 July 2002: Message edited by: SeveredPsyche ]
 
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