Considering the number of people who miss work or school after a night of partying, you'd think there would be a lot of careful research to study the causes and effects of a hangover. Fortunately a few scientists who are fascinated with metabolism have stepped up to the plate, combined their research with what they know about how the body works, and voila! They report there are four effects that can turn a party into a nightmare.

Before I give you the biochemistry lesson I'll remind you that alcohol affects different people in different ways. The official research says it takes the average 150-pound man about an hour to fully metabolize one ounce of (40%) whiskey or one beer or one glass of wine per hour without too many ill effects. Men have more muscle than women do, so their metabolism is higher and they will tolerate alcohol better. It goes without saying that the best way to prevent a hangover is to avoid alcohol or, if you drink, to do so in moderation. And, don't drive. Nevertheless, many people occasionally overdo it. Here are the facts about what happens when you do over do it.

1. Alcohol upsets your water balance. It causes a decrease in anti-diuretic hormone ADH, so you get dehydrated. (That's why you urinate more often. As you stop drinking, the ADH levels increase and you actually retain fluid. That's why you have puffy eyes and feel bloated the next day.

2. Alcohol interferes with the normal metabolism of some acids, and actually produces others. Your blood becomes more acidic than normal. Acidosis is the cause of nausea and sweating. It takes your kidney and lungs about 18-24 hours to return blood acid levels back to normal.

3. Alcohol disrupts your circadian rhythms--the temperature and time regulators managed by your brain. It can make a 9 a.m. wake-up call feel like it's only 3 a.m. That contributes to grogginess and irritability.

4. Alcoholic drinks contain impurities when it is distilled called congeners, which are toxic to your body. Vodka and gin have the fewest. Whiskey, brandy, scotch and red wine have the most. Additionally, the histamine in red wine dilates blood vessels contributes to headaches. Scientists love to argue whether this contributes to hangovers, and official studies (usually done with pure alcohol) give mixed results.

Add these all together and, as your body tries to get rid of the alcohol you get the physiological and psychological effects of a hangover--including headache, dry mouth, nausea, excessive thirst, unsteadiness, dizziness, sweating, slurred speech, altered thinking and shakiness.

If you are going to drink, there are a couple of things you can do to minimize the effects (a little).

1. Don't drink on an empty stomach. Eat a high-fat, sugar-free meal like pizza with sausage or bread and butter or pasta with a fatty sauce or eggs or drink whole milk.

2. Take a vitamin B complex and 500 mgm. of vitamin C.before and after you party. They help break down the alcohol.

3. Limit drinking to one ounce of liquor or one glass of wine or one beer an hour. Avoid sugary drinks and histamine-containing red wine.

4. Alternate alcoholic drinks with water.

5. Keep snacking--especially fatty, sugar-free foods.

If you drink more than one ounce of liquor, one beer or one glass of wine an hour:

1. Don't drive. In the Portland, OR metropolitan area you can call a tow company and they will tow you and your vehicle home for $10. Many cab companies offer special rates to safely return a party goer to his or her home.

2. Drink lots of water before, during and after you drink alcohol.

3. When you stop drinking, take two 2 aspirin or acetaminophen or a non-steroid anti-inflammatory like ibuprofen. (There are mixed feelings about caffeine that can help a headache by constricting dilated arteries but, because it is a diuretic, it also lengthens the time it takes for alcohol to be broken down.

4. Eat some honey on a cracker or piece of toast or drink a high fructose (not sucrose) drink like Splash or tomato juice or any 100 percent juice or caffeine-free tea with honey. (Fructose competes for the metabolism of alcohol and prevents the rapid change in alcohol levels that causes headaches the next day.)

5. Do not go to sleep. The slower metabolism that comes with sleep also slows your body's ability to process the alcohol.

6. Use an ice bag on your forehead for a headache--twenty minutes on, then ten minutes off.

7. Get some food in your stomach--sauerkraut and other cabbage-based foods speed the breakdown of alcohol.

8. Avoid coffee. It may wake you up but the caffeine will flush the fluids you need from your body.