Besides the acute effects of ethanol on a person's performance and behavior, the after-effects of heavy drinking, commonly referred to as the hangover state, causes impairment of mental and body functioning, such as fatigue, attention deficit, and diminished psychomotor skills. It seems likely that many accidents on the roads and in the workplace might be attributed to decreased attention and slower reaction time associated with the residual effects of an evening's heavy drinking. Although neither dose-response relationships nor the prevalence of hangover have been clearly established, experience has shown that a person's blood alcohol concentration (BAC) should exceed approximately 1.0 g/L during the acute phase of intoxication (Smith et al, 1983; Collins and Chiles 1980). The hangover starts to develop when the BAC decreases again and is approaching zero. However, the intensity and duration of hangover shows large inter- and intra-individual variations and the reduced performance in some people might persist for many hours after all ethanol has been cleared from the body (Goldberg, 1961). (A)
Abstract