Health
Here's why you're suffering a hangover – Scuttlebutt Sailing News
The United States Navy sailors and their families rely on Navy Times as a trusted, independent source for news and information on the most important issues affecting their careers and personal lives. Such as hangovers…
Debaucherous evening last night? You’re probably dealing with veisalgia right now.
More commonly known as a hangover, this unpleasant phenomenon has been dogging humanity since our ancestors first happened upon fermentation.
Those nasty vertigo-inducing, cold sweat-promoting and vomit-producing sensations after a raucous night out are all part of your body’s attempt to protect itself from injury after you overindulge in alcoholic beverages.
Your liver is working to break down the alcohol you consumed so your kidneys can clear it out ASAP. But in the process, your body’s inflammatory and metabolic reactions are going to lay you low with a hangover.
As long as people have suffered from hangovers, they’ve searched in vain for a cure. Revelers have access to a variety of compounds, products and devices that purport to ease the pain.
But there’s a lot of purporting and not a lot of proof. Most have not been backed up well by science in terms of usefulness for hangover treatment, and often their effects don’t seem like they’d match up with what scientists know about the biology of the hangover.
Hangovers are virtually guaranteed when you drink too much. That amount varies from person to person based on genetic factors as well as whether there are other compounds that formed along with ethanol in the fermentation process.
Over the course of a night of heavy drinking, your blood alcohol level continues to rise. Your body labors to break down the alcohol – consumed as ethanol in beer, wine or spirits – forming damaging oxygen free radicals and acetaldehyde, itself a harmful compound.
The longer ethanol and acetaldehyde stick around, the more damage they can do to your cellular membranes, proteins and DNA, so your body’s enzymes work quickly to metabolize acetaldehyde to a less toxic compound, acetate.
Over time, your ethanol levels drop through this natural metabolic process. Depending on how much you consumed, you’re likely to experience a hangover as the level of ethanol in your blood slowly returns to zero. Your body is withdrawing from high levels of circulating alcohol, while at the same time trying to protect itself from the effects of alcohol.
Scientists have limited knowledge of the leading causes of the hangover. But they do know that the body’s responses include changes in hormone levels to reduce dehydration and cellular stress.
Alcohol consumption also affects a variety of neurotransmitter systems in the brain, including glutamate, dopamine and serotonin.
Inflammation increases in the body’s tissues, and the healthy gut bacteria in your digestive system take a hit too, promoting leaky gut.
Altogether, the combination of all these reactions and protective mechanisms activated by your system gives rise to the experience of a hangover, which can last up to 48 hours.
Your misery likely has company
Drinking and socializing are cultural acts, and most hangovers do not happen in isolation. Human beings are social creatures, and there’s a high likelihood that at least one other individual feels the same as you the morning after the night before.
Each society has different rules regarding alcohol use, which can affect how people view alcohol consumption within those cultures.
Drinking is often valued for its relaxing effect and for promoting sociability. So it’s common to see alcohol provided at celebratory events, social gatherings and holiday parties.
In the United States, drinking alcohol is largely embraced by mainstream culture, which may even promote behaviors involving excessive drinking. It should be no surprise that overindulgence goes hand in hand with these celebratory social events – and leads to hangover regrets a few hours later.
Your body’s reactions to high alcohol intake and the sobering-up period can influence mood, too. The combination of fatigue that you experience from sleep deprivation and hormonal stress reactions, in turn, affect your neurobiological responses and behavior. As your body is attempting to repair itself, you’re more likely to be easily irritated, exhausted and want nothing more than to be left alone.
Of course, your work productivity takes a dramatic hit the day after an evening of heavy drinking.
When all is said and done, you’re the cause of your own hangover pain, and you’re the one who must pay for all the fun of the night before. But in short order, you’ll forget how excruciating your last hangover was. And you may very soon talk yourself into doing the things you swore you’d never do again.
Speeding up recovery
While pharmacologists like us understand a bit about how hangovers work, we still lack a true remedy.
Countless articles describe a variety of foods, caffeine, ion replenishment, energy drinks, herbal supplements including thyme and ginger, vitamins and the “hair of the dog” as ways to prevent and treat hangovers.
But the evidence isn’t really there that any of these work effectively. They’re just not scientifically validated or well reproduced.
For example, Kudzu root (Pueraria lobata), a popular choice for hangover remedies, has primarily been investigated for its effects in reducing alcohol-mediated stress and hangover.
But at the same time, Kudzu root appears to inhibit the enzymes that break down acetaldehyde – not good news since you want to clear that acetaldehyde from your system quickly.
To fill this knowledge gap, our lab is working with colleagues to see if we can find scientific evidence for or against potential hangover remedies. We’ve focused on the benefits of dihydromyricetin, a Chinese herbal medicine that is currently available and formulated as a dietary supplement for hangover reduction or prevention.
Dihydromyricetin appears to work its magic by enhancing alcohol metabolism and reducing its toxic byproduct, acetaldehyde. From our findings in mice models, we are collecting data that support the usefulness of dihydromyricetin in increasing the expression and activity of enzymes responsible for ethanol and acetaldehyde metabolism in the liver, where ethanol is primarily broken down.
These findings explain one of the several ways dihydromyricetin protects the body against alcohol stress and hangover symptoms.
We are also studying how this enhancement of alcohol metabolism results in changes in alcohol drinking behaviors. Previously, dihydromyricetin was found to counteract the relaxation affect of drinking alcohol by interfering with particular neuroreceptors in the brain; rodents didn’t become as intoxicated and consequently reduced their ethanol intake.
Through this combination of mechanisms, we hope to illustrate how DHM might reduce the downsides of excessive drinking beyond the temporary hangover, and potentially reduce drinking behavior and damage associated with heavy alcohol consumption.
Of course, limiting alcohol intake and substituting water for many of those drinks during an evening out is probably the best method to avoid a painful hangover.
However, for those times when one alcoholic beverage leads to more than a few more, be sure to stay hydrated and catch up on rest.
Your best bet for a smoother recovery is probably some combination of nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug like ibuprofen, Netflix, and a little downtime.
Background on authors:
Dr. Daryl L. Davies is the Associate Dean for Undergraduate Education and a professor in the Titus Family Department of Clinical Pharmacy at the University of Southern California’s School of Pharmacy. He also leads a leads a research team seeking to develop novel therapeutics for the treatment of neurodegenerative diseases and alcoholism and is considered a pioneer by his peers in the field of purinergic receptors and their role in CNS regulation of alcohol-induced changes in alcohol intake and signaling.
Dr. Terry David Church, is an assistant professor in the Department of Regulatory and Quality Sciences, and lecturer for the undergraduate program at the University of Southern California’s School of Pharmacy.
Joshua Silva is a PhD student at the University of Southern California’s School of Pharmacy. His doctoral project is titled “Dihydromyricetin (DHM) Increases Alcohol Metabolism and Reduces Alcohol-Induced Liver Injury.”
Source: https://www.navytimes.com
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Kate Hudson is stripping down for a great cause.
The 42-year-old actress took to Instagram on Tuesday to share a photo in her underwear, advocating for Breast Cancer Awareness Month, leaving fans blown away by her “ripped” abs.
“It’s Breast Cancer Awareness Month and I’m stretching my quads before joining my friends at Kit Undergarments and Third Love as they kick it to cancer by donating 15% of sales from the Kits To Kick Cancer collection to Women’s Cancer Research Fund,” the mother-of-three wrote to her more than 14 million followers.
The Fabletics co-founder’s post was met with praise, not just for bringing attention to the worthy cause, but for her strong and toned figure.
Hudson’s post drew comparisons to fellow A-list celebrities like, Jennifer Lopez and Jennifer Aniston.
“OK, I had no idea she was this ripped,” one person commented, while another added, “Definitely thought that was J.Lo at first glance.”
“I thought you were Jennifer Aniston at first,” someone else chimed in. “Can you imagine being a mom and 42 and looking this good? I am in shock.”
“Girl, you are in crazy good shape,”another commented. “I hope I look like this when I’m in my 40s.”
“The hair is irrelevant when you’re a mom with a body that looks this great,” someone else added.
“Thank you for promoting Breast Cancer Awareness Month and thank you for being this freaking hot,” another fan praised. “Keep up the hard work, sis. I see those abs!”
It’s no secret that the “How to Lose A Guy In 10 Days” star works hard for her body. In an interview with Women’s Health in June, Hudson revealed that she works out three or four times per week with a personal trainer.
“I know I’m at my strongest is when I’m doing my Pilates because it never gets easier,” she said. “The more you do Pilates the harder the things you can do become. I love how flexible I feel and I like what it does to the shape of my body.”
Aside from pilates, Hudson prefers to keep her exercises as fun as possible.
“I like to do any kind of dance workout,” she added. “I have the Peloton Tread, I just got it and I love Peloton. I think they make it so easy to have ‘no excuse’ workouts.”
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The U.S. economy likely grew at its slowest pace in more than a year in the third quarter as COVID-19 infections flared up, further straining global supply chains and causing shortages of goods like automobiles that almost stifled consumer spending.
The Commerce Department‘s advance gross domestic product report on Thursday is also expected to show strong inflation, fueled by the economy-wide shortages and pandemic relief money from the government, cutting into growth. Ebbing fiscal stimulus and Hurricane Ida, which devastated U.S. offshore energy production at the end of August, also weighed on the economy.
But there are signs that economic activity picked up towards the end of the quarter amid declining coronavirus cases driven by the Delta variant.
“Delta is the biggest reason why we have this noticeable deceleration,” said Ryan Sweet, a senior economist at Moody’s Analytics in West Chester, Pennsylvania. “We’re going to see growth re-accelerate in the fourth quarter and the first half of next year as the effect of the Delta variant begins to wane. It doesn’t mean that we won’t have future waves of COVID, but with each passing wave, the economic costs continue to diminish.”
GDP growth likely increased at a 2.7% annualized rate last quarter, according to a Reuters survey of economists. The poll was, however, conducted before the release of data on Wednesday showing a sharp widening in the goods trade deficit in September amid a slump in exports.
The biggest goods trade deficit on record prompted some Wall Street banks to cut their GDP growth estimate, including Goldman Sachs, which trimmed its forecast by half a percentage point to a 2.75% rate. The Atlanta Federal Reserve trimmed its already low forecast to a 0.2% pace from a 0.5% rate.
Regardless of the actual number on Thursday, the economy’s performance last quarter was probably the weakest since the second quarter of 2020, when it suffered a historic contraction in the wake of stringent mandatory measures to contain the first wave of COVID-19 infections. The economy grew at a 6.7% rate in the second quarter. The Delta variant worsened labor shortages at factories, mines and ports, gumming up the supply chain.
The anticipated meager growth is seen coming mostly from a moderate pace of inventory drawdown. Overall inventory accumulation likely remained weak owing to shortages, especially of motor vehicles. Outside the shutdown in spring 2020, September was the worst month for motor vehicle production since 2010 because of a global shortage of semiconductors.
“The largest boost to GDP should come from a slower drawdown of inventories compared to in the second quarter, as supply shortage issues initially presented through weaker inventories but now have become a constraint on consumption instead,” said Veronica Clark, an economist at Citigroup in New York.
Consumer spending, which accounts for more than two-thirds of U.S. economic activity, is forecast to have stalled after a robust 12% growth pace in the April-June quarter. Though automobiles will account for a chunk of the anticipated stagnation, the Delta variant also curbed spending on services like air travel and dining out.
GLIMMERS OF HOPE
Inflation, which overshot the Federal Reserve’s 2% flexible target, also reduced households’ spending power. Price pressures and the supply chain disruptions saw the International Monetary Fund this month cutting its 2021 growth estimate for the United States to 6.0% from 7.0% in July.
Slower growth will have no impact on the Fed’s plans to start reducing as soon as next month the amount of money it is pumping into the economy through monthly bond purchases.
But there is light at the end of the tunnel. The summer wave of COVID-19 infections is behind, with cases declining significantly in recent weeks. Vaccinations have also picked up. The improving public health helped to lift consumer confidence this month. The number of Americans filing new claims for unemployment benefits has dropped to a 19-month low.
That declining trend is expected to be confirmed by a separate report from the Labor Department on Thursday.
According to a Reuters survey, initial claims for state unemployment benefits likely held at a seasonally adjusted 290,000 last week. That would mark the third straight week that claims remained below the 300,000 threshold.
Economists are split on whether business investment in equipment maintained its pace of double-digit growth last quarter. Data on Wednesday showed a surge in shipments of capital goods excluding aircraft in September.
While some economists saw this as an indication of strong equipment spending, others cautioned that high prices flattered the value of shipments. There are also concerns that the scarcity of motor vehicles hindered efforts by companies to replace or increase their auto fleet.
“Just as the collapse in motor vehicle sales is dragging down consumption, the corresponding collapse in fleet sales is also weighing on business equipment investment,” said Michael Pearce, a senior U.S. economist at Capital Economics in New York. “The sharp fall in auto and truck shipments means that, rather than a double-digit annualized gain, business equipment investment probably contracted slightly in the third quarter.”
Trade was likely a drag on GDP growth for a fifth straight quarter also following a sharp drop in industrial materials exports in September. Expensive building materials and soaring house prices likely weighed on the housing market again last quarter, while government spending probably rebounded.
(Reporting by Lucia Mutikani; Editing by Andrea Ricci)
The province announced that COVID-19 booster shots will be available to every British Columbian ages 12 and up by the end of May 2o22.
The announcement came after months of health officials saying simply that they were studying the science of booster shots and who would need them.
So, what is the science?
Provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry said that while two doses of a COVID-19 vaccine are absolutely effective in preventing hospitalization from the virus, some groups are starting to see breakthrough cases. This is most likely to happen in older individuals, the immunocompromised and Indigenous Peoples – and that’s why those groups are being prioritized. The immunocompromised – about 115,000 people – have already received an invitation to get their third dose, as have residents in long-term care and assisted living.
As time goes on, however, other people may also become vulnerable, especially those who got their vaccines in the winter and early spring. That includes many seniors, the clinically extremely vulnerable and Indigenous Peoples.
“Our vaccines are highly effective. However, we are starting to see a gradual decline in protection over time. As a result, we are taking the proactive step of expanding boosters to everyone in our province,” said Henry. “We’re starting with the people who need them most to continue to do all we can to keep people in B.C. safe from this virus and its variants.”
READ MORE: B.C. to offer third COVID-19 vaccine doses to everyone aged 12 and up
What shots will be offered as boosters?
Booster shots will be either Pfizer or Moderna mRNA vaccines, including for individuals who received one or two doses of AstraZeneca. Health officials say it doesn’t matter which of the mRNA shots you get as a booster – they are interchangeable.
Do I have to get it?
No. Health officials say that for the purposes of the B.C. vaccine card program and for immunization mandates – such as for health care workers – two doses will be sufficient.
When will I be eligible?
That depends. In general, the goal is for everyone to get their booster shot six to eight months after they received their second dose. Long-term care residents and immunocompromised individuals are already eligible, but here’s who comes next:.
From now until the end of 2021:
- Seniors 70+
- Indigenous Peoples 12+
- Long-term care support clients
- Seniors in independent living
- Health care workers who got dose one and dose two in a shorter interval.
From January to May 2022
- Clinically extremely vulnerable (who are not immunosuppressed)
- Health care workers in acute care, long-term care and assisted living
- Health care workers in the community
- Everyone in B.C ages 12+.
How will I find out when I’m eligible?
Everyone will be contacted via the Get Vaccinated system, the same way you were likely contacted for your first two shots. If you’re not registered yet, you can do so at getvaccinated.gov.bc.ca or by calling 1-833-838-2323. If you are already registered from your first two shots, you don’t need to register again.
Where can I get the shot?
Booster shots will be available at community immunization clinics run by health authorities and pharmacies across the province. In small or remote communities, everyone may be vaccinated at the same time through a “whole of community system,” as happened in places such as Tofino and Prince Rupert for first and second doses.
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