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A multitude of individuals express that their post-drinking experiences have deteriorated as they’ve matured. But what insights does the scientific community provide?(Image credit: izusek via Getty Images)ShareShare by:
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A good number of folks are familiar with the sensations that occur after consuming a few too many alcoholic beverages: a throbbing cephalgia, cold perspiration, rapid thinking, and an uneasy stomach. Frequently, these aftereffects appear to worsen as one ages; older individuals discover that quantities of liquor they formerly drank during their younger years without consequences now leave them feeling weakened.
But do these post-drinking repercussions truly intensify with age?
Individually, numerous people could affirm “yes,” based on their own lives — though concrete scientific proof that these aftereffects genuinely become more severe with age is lacking. Nevertheless, a handful of credible explanations exist as to why they might do so.
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“It is not definitively known whether such aftereffects worsen for each individual as they age or simply for a segment of the population,” Aaron White, head of the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism’s Epidemiology and Biometry Branch, shared with Live Science via electronic mail. “There merely isn’t ample investigation conducted on this subject.” However, certain speculations are present.
Such aftereffects stem from a myriad of physiological transformations that manifest post-overindulgence. Liquor is detrimental to cells, capable of impairing DNA and obstructing critical cell operations. As it undergoes breakdown, liquor fleetingly morphs into a separate toxic substance, dubbed acetaldehyde, prior to transforming into a less-detrimental compound referred to as acetate and, ultimately, into water and carbon dioxide.
As individuals get older, the liver enzymes responsible for metabolizing liquor and its detrimental byproducts might diminish in efficiency, potentially causing these harmful chemicals to linger within the body for extended durations relative to the past. When acetaldehyde lingers in the liver, it could additionally trigger widespread body inflammation. Cytokines, the chemical agents inciting inflammation, have been linked to discomfort, worry, impatience, and weariness — all prevalent indicators of post-drinking repercussions.
Moreover, compared to younger counterparts, older individuals are more inclined to grapple with chronic pain and ailments inducing supplementary inflammation, such as diabetes and arthritis. Consequently, excessive alcohol consumption could culminate in a double blow of inflammation atop an already elevated baseline. White suggested this might “exacerbate existing bodily unease” and eventually translate into a more pronounced post-drinking experience.
The processes of both consuming liquor and typical aging can impede one’s capacity to maintain hydration, thus a blending of both could set the stage for an unpleasant subsequent morning.
Liquor functions as a diuretic, inducing expulsion of water from the physical form. Scientists are still deliberating the specific degree to which dehydration contributes to such aftereffects, White noted, though dehydration’s potential to induce headaches and fatigue is well-established, both of which are common indications of these aftereffects. Furthermore, beyond 60 years of age, the comprehensive quantity of water within the body commences a decline attributable to tissue diminution. This dehydration not only predisposes one to such aftereffects but could additionally heighten the blood’s liquor concentration post-consumption, White mentioned.
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“It’s plausible that each drink delivers a more significant impact as we get on in years,” he articulated, “potentially signifying augmented suffering the ensuing day.”
Both liquor and aging interrupt rest patterns, too. Ingesting a few beverages may expedite the initial phase of dozing off; however, it can equally degrade sleep quality and prompt individuals to awaken earlier, resulting in an inferior overall sleep experience. White clarified that sleep quality generally tends to degrade with aging regardless, therefore “we may perceive alcohol’s impact on next-day exhaustion more substantially than during our younger stages.”
Despite a multitude of conceivable reasons for liquor to exert a more powerful effect with age, severe post-drinking experiences are not an inescapable element of growing older. A study involving in excess of 50,000 subjects aged 18 to 94 revealed that older participants actually documented a reduced occurrence of such aftereffects post-heavy drinking, in contrast to their younger peers. The researchers were unable to account for this pattern, even after factoring in each age bracket’s habitual liquor intake or incidence of heavy drinking.
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These findings resonated in a smaller, self-reported survey, indicating that the intensity of these aftereffects lessened with age. Although younger participants self-reported consuming greater quantities, the researchers, upon adjusting their outcomes to reflect liquor volume, observed that older participants self-reported less intense and less prevalent aftereffects than their younger counterparts. The researchers hypothesized this could occur due to diminished pain sensitivity in older individuals over time.
While some uncertainty persists regarding the precise influence of aging on post-drinking experiences, White articulated that one aspect remains clear: the sole reliable means of circumventing such aftereffects involves abstaining from excessive alcohol consumption initially.
“Time serves as the exclusive universal remedy for symptoms resulting from such experiences,” White affirmed. “Refraining from overindulgence is the optimal strategy for averting them.”
This composition serves exclusively for informational objectives and is not designed to dispense medical consultation.
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Marilyn PerkinsContent Manager
Marilyn Perkins holds the position of content manager at Live Science. Based in Los Angeles, California, she functions as a science scribe and artist. She secured her master’s degree in scientific composition from Johns Hopkins and her bachelor’s degree in neuroscience from Pomona College. Her compositions have appeared in outlets encompassing New Scientist, the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health periodical, and Penn Today, and she accepted the 2024 National Association of Science Writers Excellence in Institutional Writing Award in the short-form division.
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