by HAL SOSABOWSKI
When you are sober, a shot seems like a good idea. When you are drunk, it seems even better.
Having a few drinks at Christmas is, for some people, as much a part of the festive tradition as presents, decorations or carols. So if you find yourself nursing a hangover on Boxing Day, the day after Christmas, you might be interested to know what’s actually going on inside your body and why you feel so bad.
We tend to drink because in low doses alcohol is initially a euphoriant, it makes you feel happier. It does this by causing the body to release dopamine and endorphins, chemicals that stimulate the brain’s reward system. But after a while and as you drink more, it ultimately suppresses some brain activity and slows down your heart and breathing.
The effects of the initial intake of any alcohol is the first of many stages of narcosis, the last of which is death. There just happens to be a large window between an effective dose, which has you thinking you are far more witty and handsome than you actually are and, later, running down the street with a traffic cone on your head, and a lethal dose, which has you on a mortuary slab.
Effects of alcohol
Small amounts of alcohol affect the limbic system in the brain, which result in aggression and the Friday and Saturday night melees common in many town centres. Alcohol is also a vasodilator, which means it widens blood vessels, diverting blood from the body’s core to its extremities. This results in the characteristic flushed cheeks you can get from consuming alcohol and also the red nose often sported by dyed-in-the-wool drinkers.
Scroll for more