The effects of a boozy night last longer than we think

What is a hangover? (Aside from regret.)

A recent consensus definition labels a hangover as 'mental and physical symptoms experienced the day after a single episode of heavy drinking, starting when the blood alcohol concentration [BAC] approaches zero'.

Everyone knows it's not safe to drink and drive. Campaigns advise us to park the car with mates, and drive it home the next morning. But is this good advice?

A recent systematic review and meta-analysis found that hangovers (even with BAC approaching zero) result in:

• Poor sustained attention (ability to focus on an activity or stimulus);
• Poor memory (both short- and long-term);
• Psychomotor retardation (skills where moving and thinking are combined);
• Impaired driving ability (as shown in real-life simulation studies).

So having a BAC of zero after a big night won't cut it, and this has massive implications for any task or job that requires thinking and movement, which is pretty much everything. It also suggests that roadside alcohol testing (catching those people 'over the limit') is missing a significant proportion of the population who test negative for alcohol, but whose driving is very much impaired.

REFERENCES
Gunn C et al. Addiction 2018 Aug 25.
Curr Drug Abuse Rev 2016; 9:148.