Formulation and method for the prevention and/or treatment of hangover symptoms

Abstract

A formulation and a method for treating, preventing, ameliorating or alleviating in a patient the symptoms of hangover, or of veisalgia, associated with a bout of excessive alcohol consumption are disclosed. More specifically, a formulation comprising L-cysteine, thiamine and pyridoxine and a method for treating, preventing, ameliorating or alleviating in a patient one or more of the symptoms of nausea, headache, diminished concentration, malaise and / or tiredness, and a desire to consume greasy and / or fatty and / or oily foods, associated with a bout of excessive alcohol consumption are disclosed.

Description

FIELD OF THE INVENTION[0001]The invention relates to formulations and methods for the prevention and / or treatment of hangover symptoms associated with alcohol consumption.BACKGROUND TO THE INVENTION[0002]Alcohol induced hangover, also known as veisalgia, is a syndrome comprised of a range of symptoms including nausea, headache, diminished concentration, malaise and / or tiredness, and a desire to consume greasy and / or fatty and / or oily foods (amongst others) that typically occurs the day following overindulgence in alcohol. Although the precise pathogenesis of hangover is not known and likely to be due to multiple factors, there is considerable evidence that the accumulation of acetaldehyde plays a significant role [14, 15, 16, 17]. Alcohol is rapidly metabolized to acetaldehyde by the enzyme alcohol dehydrogenase. Acetaldehyde is then metabolized by aldehyde reductase to acetate.[0003]The following formulas illustrate these reactions:CH3CH2OH+NAD+→CH3CHO+NADH+H+  1)Acetaldehyde+NAD++...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

The patent describes a way to make it easier to separate individual sachets from a larger pack of sachets. This is useful for dispensing the product in pairs, and there are various ways to join the sachets together. The invention also includes a container that can hold several pairs of sachets, making it easy to dispense the desired amount.

Problems solved by technology

However, when too much alcohol is consumed the body is overwhelmed and cannot effectively metabolize all the acetaldehyde that is being produced.

Alcohol induced hangover is responsible for a significant degree of morbidity in the community and it is responsible for a high level of loss of productivity due to absenteeism from work and poor work performance [10, 12, 15].

Due to side effects such as headache, nausea and a general feeling of malaise many hours of work and relaxation time are lost because of the inability to be productive.

However, PubMed database searches of the ingredients variously contained in those products reveal that none of them have been studied, other than Red Ginseng and glucose [6, 19].

Specifically, disulfiram is prescribed for alcohol dependent persons because if they consume alcohol while taking disulfiram they experience very unpleasant adverse reactions such as flushing, nausea and headache which are features also seen in hangover.

Nonetheless, the inventors have found that there has been relatively few suitable studies done to properly determine the cause of, or treatment for, hangover symptoms for a wide variety of reasons, including because, for example, alcohol studies cannot meaningfully be carried out in a laboratory atmosphere (as that would not be indicative of the natural way alcohol is consumed), of ethical considerations, hangover is complicated, and of the possibility or probability of great variation in symptoms between individuals, to name a few.

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