REPOST: The Wait for the No-Hangover Beer Continues

Beer and other alcoholic beverages contain some of the most dangerous chemicals for the kidneys. Read this article to learn how these beverages can also be detrimental to other organs and metabolic processes in the body.

A new type of beer claims to decrease dehydration. | Getty Images

Image source: abcnews.com

Whether you're watching the big game at your local bar or playing an intramural kickball game under the influence, beer and sports seem to be a natural pairing.

Even so, if you have one pint too many, you'll be writhing in pain the next day because of nausea and headaches. Is there a way to drink your beer without the fear of the morning hangover?

Ben Desbrow, inspired by the beer-sports connection, ran an experiment to see how beer affected the balance of fluids in the body. Desbrow, a researcher at Griffith Health Institute in Australia, examined whether making beer more like Gatorade and adding some electrolytes would mitigate its alcohol's tendency to dehydrate people who drink it.

"We basically manipulated the electrolyte levels of two commercial beers, one regular strength and one light beer, and gave it to research subjects who'd just lost a significant amount of sweat by exercising," Desbrow said in a statement. "We then used several measures to monitor the participant's fluid recovery to the different beers."

According to the research, published in the International Journal of Sport Nutrition and Exercise Metabolism, subjects lost about two percent of their body mass after exercising and replenished most of the fluid they lost with beer.

The light beer (with 2.3 percent alcohol by volume) fortified with sodium fared the best, helping the subjects retain about one-third more of their body's fluids and urinate less. However, the result was not statistically different than the regular light beer, which had less alcohol than regular beer.

In addition to more research being required on the dehydrating effects of beer additives, there is more to the hangover than dehydration. Michael Oshinsky, the director of preclinical research at the Jefferson Headache Center in Pennsylvania, said that one of alcohol's metabolism byproducts, acetate, plays a big role in the hangover headache.

"We reproduced the alcohol-induced headache in rats," he told ABC News. "If you block the enzyme that breaks down acetaldehyde to acetate, you don't get a headache."

There is also some human evidence for acetate playing a role in the hangover.

"In the past, about 25 percent of kidney dialysis patients said they had whopper headaches," said Oshinsky. "They changed the concentration of the acetate in the dialysis bags, and now it's less than one percent. It's not dehydration that induces the headache."

Find out how important it is to care for the kidneys by reading this blog for Dr. Paul Frymoyer.

REPOST: Many Africans with Diabetes Unaware of Illness

A study published by the World Diabetes Atlas found that more than 15 million Africans are unaware that they have diabetes. It also predicted that this number will surpass 500 million by 2031. The Voice of America provides a detailed report on this issue.

YAOUNDE, CAMEROON — A study published in the World Diabetes Atlas says that more than 80 percent of people living with diabetes in sub-Saharan Africa do not know that they suffer from the disease. Sub-Saharan Africa has more than 15 million of the 371 million people living with diabetes in the world.

The report states that diabetes is a global burden as the number of people living with the disease continues to rise. But it says the situation is worse in sub-Saharan Africa.


Image source: voanews.com

Dr. Palma Mesumbe of the Cameroon Diabetes Association said even in North Africa where many more people visit hospitals, half of the patients did not know that they had diabetes.

“It is clearly established today that the number of diabetics is increasing on the day. Half of the people who have diabetes do not know they have it. We are talking about 52.9 percent for instance in North Africa that do not know that they have diabetes,” said Dr. Mesumbe.

The World Diabetes Atlas study adds that the greatest number of people with diabetes are between the ages of 40 and 59. Another medic, Dayawa Akuns, said a lot more within the same age group may be living with diabetes without knowing it, since symptoms can only be noticed at chronic stages.

“At the moment when we have the signs and symptoms of diabetes, it is assumed that more than 50 percent of the cells that have the responsibility to produce insulin have been destroyed. Over time as these cells are being destroyed, we are not going to see the symptoms because it has not reached a particular threshold to trigger signs and symptoms,” said Akuns.

It is projected that by 2031 the number of people living with the disease will increase to more than 552 million. Palma Mesumbe said that it would be a serious problem, especially in Africa which is socially and economically disadvantaged.

“It's going to be a problem in Africa where we are going to see a doubling in the prevalence of diabetes. We are at 4.3 percent and in 20 years that percentage is going to double, and the problem is how ready are we to handle that situation,” said Dr. Mesumbe.

To control the situation, the report says governments must reinforce diabetes awareness strategies and support associations fighting the disease.

Paul Frymoyer, MD, has been instrumental in helping South Africa’s poor, having provided medical assistance to native Africans with various diseases. Check out this Facebook page and learn how Dr. Frymoyer became closer to the continent’s culture.