IN THIS ISSUE

This month, Better Health News tackles all the need to know information for the holidays.

First, hangovers are a common occurrence during this time, therefore learn the best remedy to rid yourself of a morning full of pain.

Then, learn the health reasons for why children are such an important part of our lives.

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Christmas season is upon us. Aside from Santa, the overabundance of gifts and Christmas music, most of us associate the Christmas season with parties. Between office parties and visits to all our friends and relatives who made wonderful goodies and prepared their favorite cocktails, most of us end up nursing hangovers after the holidays. What exactly is hangover, how to avoid it and how to cure it are not very popular research topics among scientists, so it's not surprising that your grandfather probably has more useful advice than most scientific journals. Nevertheless, it is interesting to find out what happens in our bodies, and our brain, when we overindulge in alcohol, and what remedy really works.

What is a hangover?

While hangovers have been described throughout human history, even in the Old Testament, no scientist actually claims to understand how they happen or why. We know, from experience, that alcohol affects our motor function, impulse control, upsets the stomach, causes vomiting, affects sleep and urine production, causes headache and sometimes leads to feeling just overall miserable. But, it is not clear if these effects are caused by alcohol or the withdrawal from alcohol after we end our binge. Most scientists believe it is a combination of both.

Alcohol does not affect everyone the same way, but it is considered that you will end up with a hangover when your blood alcohol level gets to be above 0.11. That is also just above the legal driving limit. However, about 20 percent of people can drink well above this limit without suffering severe consequences. These are the people who come to work after the office party and make fun of the rest of us.

Smoking and drinking – making bad thing worse

An interesting study investigated how smoking affects alcohol consumption. Naturally, scientists used a group of about 100 students for their research. While the results show that the hangover was worse for people who smoked heavily while on a drinking binge, the difference was not significant enough to show the cause and effect link. Of course, many people who seldom smoke will light up when drinking with their buddies, adding insult to the injury of their abused system.

Remedies

Almost every person who likes to drink in excess also has a miraculous cure, which in most cases does not work for anyone else. Some "cures" are more famous than others. Let’s take a look at which remedies might actually be effective and which ones you might as well not bother with:

Hair of the dog: Having a bloody Mary on the morning you wake up with a pounding headache means adding more alcohol to your already toxic system. Try a Virgin Mary, fresh tomato juice, or any other juice instead. The juice in the Bloody Mary is the part that makes you feel better, not the alcohol.

Big, greasy breakfast: Very few people can stomach anything the morning of the hangover, especially not a big greasy breakfast. But for some reason, this myth persists, with the explanation that the grease will line your stomach and protect it from alcohol. This might work better if you had your greasy meal before the drinking binge, not after. You will feel much better with a piece of toast and a glass of juice.

Coffee or no coffee?: Since you are already suffering from alcohol withdrawal, you do not want to add the coffee withdrawal. Sip your favorite cup of coffee slowly at first, to see how your stomach takes it. It might make you feel worse, adding to an already high level of acid in your stomach.

Exercise: This is another piece of advice that only works for some people. Many believe that you will be able to sweat out the alcohol, but after a night of drinking, your body is exhausted, dehydrated and lacking basic energy. Let your system recover by giving it a rest and exercising later.

What actually works?

Most doctors agree that the best thing you can do for your body after a night of heavy drinking is to let it rest and re-hydrate. Water, juices, Gatorade, tea, will all likely help you to recover. Our system has a powerful ability to heal itself, but if your headache is too much to bear, try aspirin or ibuprofen. Stay away from Tylenol (acetaminophen) because it may increase your risk of liver damage after drinking. If nothing works, keep repeating the first thought you had when you woke up: I will never drink again.

We love our kids. They give meaning to our lives and make our existence fulfilled and exciting. This is particularly obvious around Christmas holidays.

Decorating trees, filling Christmas stockings and gathering together around the dining table remind us how grateful we should be for our family. Of course, it does not mean that we do not get occasionally exasperated with our children. When really ticked, we tend to say ‘you will be the death of me.” But, a new study shows that people who have children tend to live longer than those who do not.

Parenthood advantages

In a very large study, which spanned more than ten years and involved 21 276 couples who were involved in the in-vitro fertilization program, a group of Danish scientists came up with some interesting findings. Women who gave birth to a child reduced their likelihood of early death by four times. The numbers were little less significant for men – fathers were two times less likely to die early than childless men.

Interestingly, men who became fathers through adoption also reduced their likelihood of early death, but the adoption did not affect women the same way.

Scientists also looked at the likelihood of psychiatric illness among parents and childless couples, but found that there was no significant difference. So, when we say to our children that they drive us crazy, that is only a figure of speech.

What gives?

The researchers were very careful to state that the link between the longevity and parenthood does not prove causation, and they did not offer any real reason for this link. They did suggest that its possible children may improve our longevity is because we feel a responsibility for our offspring, which forces us to live a better lifestyle. They particularly stressed the role of good sleep habits in parents. They tend to sleep longer than people without children, because they have to get up early to take care of feeding and general care of kids. This is difficult to accept, especially by parents of newborn babies, who barely get any sleep at all.

While taking care of children can be exhausting, especially given the complicated educational and social lives many of our kids have, the fact that having children makes us healthier has been confirmed in more than one study. A study by a group of researchers from several American universities found that men without kids are 17 percent more likely to die of heart disease than men with one or more children. In fact, the more children the men had, the better chances they had to live a long life without heart disease. Their conclusion was that reproductive health is directly linked to cardiovascular health in men.

Kids keep depression at bay

The Christmas holidays can be a depressing time for childless people or people living alone. People without children feel left out of the festive atmosphere and the holiday joy. If you do not have little ones to drive you crazy with their holiday excitement and overabundance of toys, try to enjoy the holidays in your own way. Decorating a small tree can be fun, and if you hang chocolates instead of decorations, you can invite neighborhood kids to admire your tree and to help themselves to the sweets. If you feel particularly blue, consider volunteering at a homeless shelter. They are always particularly busy around holidays and would welcome your help. You may find that the experience helps you as much as it helps those you are volunteering for, and that might help put things into perspective.