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When I was asked to write about the most “sciency” parts of my new book, Hungover: The Morning After and One Man’s Quest for a Cure, step one was admitting that my expertise in the matter lies more in the experience of being a drinker than in any credentials as a scientist.
That said, after all my time studying this strange malady to write the book, the surest thing I know is how little we know about hangovers. The disorder has plagued us for most of human history—altering the outcomes of wars, weddings, the World Series, etc.—and still science has learned almost nothing about it. Certainly there have been no state-sponsored attempts to address the hangover as a legitimate medical condition, the usual explanation being that it is an illness for which you have only yourself to blame.
Even these days, those who do study hangovers ...
