Little Evidence Hangover Cures Work

A thumping headache, a tongue that feels like a carpet and a strong sense of queasiness and regret – it is a condition with which some of us may be all too familiar on New Year’s Day. 

Actually, it could be any other day too because we don't really need an excuse to start drinking. 

While it may seem tempting to reach for a hangover “cure”, researchers have chosen New Year’s Day to tell us that most will offer cold comfort. 

Scientists say they have evaluated studies looking at 23 different substances alleged to help prevent or treat a hangover – but found all of the “remedies” had low-quality evidence for how well they worked. 

The study revealed only seven of the substances showed some sign of potential benefits for overall hangover symptoms, with participants giving a lower hangover symptom score, recorded as a percentage, compared with a placebo.

“A hundred percent is really bad. So they have the worst hangover known to mankind”, said Dr Emmert Roberts (left), a co-author of the research based at the National Addiction Centre at King’s College London. 

Of these seven substances the largest and strongest effects were seen for clove extract, the anti-inflammatory drug tolfenamic acid, and pyritinol – a substance resembling two vitamin B6 molecules attached together. 

Participants taking a clove extract pill while drinking had, on average, a hangover symptom score of 19% compared with 43% for those who took a placebo pill. 

While the researchers said there would be limited harm in using such substances, it seems much more research is needed to explore whether they actually help the morning after the night before. The clove extract study, for instance, involved just 16 participants. 

Writing in the journal Addiction, Roberts and colleagues report how they looked at 21 studies, all assessing different alleged hangover cures, with 386 participants. Nevertheless, the list has some surprising gaps. 

As Roberts notes, while some may find painkillers such as aspirin or paracetamol help with a hangover, neither has been studied for this purpose in randomised control trials. 

Among other limitations, the team notes that eight of the studies only involved male participants, while none involved adults over the age of 65. It is also not clear whether the findings of studies in one country would apply elsewhere. 

Furthermore, the team points out many of the studies had “significant degrees of imprecision in outcome measures of treatment effect” while 16 of the 21 studies involved sample sizes of fewer than 30 participants. 

Roberts suggested when it comes to hangovers, prevention is better than cure. Duh! 

For those who are planning to drink more, Roberts said staying hydrated was likely to help – although, it was “not a surefire way to avoid a hangover”. 

Prof David Nutt of Imperial College London and the government’s former chief drug adviser has this to say: “Hangover is probably the least researched major health impairment – costing the UK economy over £10bn a year”. Just so you know, he was not involved in the inquiry.