Good Morning: Clinical Trial

Background

As the increase in alcohol consumption grows, the demand for effective hangover remedies grows. However, many over-the-counter hangover treatments lack scientific validation, leaving consumers searching for reliable solutions to alleviate their hangover symptoms. Despite the abundance of commercially available products, most have not undergone rigorous clinical testing to confirm their effectiveness in relieving hangover symptoms.

The Study

This was an independently run and funded study by the University of the Pacific, California, It was led by faculty from the innovative Clinical and Outcomes Research (iCOR) lab at the Thomas J. Long School of Pharmacy and Health Sciences.

The study was peer-reviewed and published in both the National Library of Medicine and Wiley.

What does this mean? Peer review is an academic term for quality control. Each article published in a peer-reviewed journal was closely examined by a panel of reviewers who are experts on the article's topic.

The Method

This was a randomized, double-blinded, placebo-controlled, crossover pilot study. Healthy volunteers of 21- to 40-year-olds were eligible for participation and received either the actual product or a placebo on two different occasions.

Participants were given 43 mL of whiskey every twenty minutes for up to 3 hours to achieve a blood alcohol concentration (BrAC) ≥ 0.12%. Hangover severity was assessed using the Acute Hangover Scale (AHS) and Acute Hangover Severity Scale (AHSS) validated tools.

The Results

The Hangover Secret (our old company name) showed “positive signals in the prevention of alcohol-induced hangover, especially headaches”

The improvements that participants say, surpassed the minimum clinically significant difference in overall AHS score and three individual AHS symptoms scores (hangover, headache, and thirst).

Nine participants completed the study. AHS scores increased from baseline to 7 AM by 4.11 ± 3.17 and 1.26 ± 2.29 for the placebo and active arms respectively (P = .16). AHS headache scores increased from baseline to 7 AM by 2.44 ± 1.67 and 1.11 ± 1.17 for the placebo and active arms respectively (P = .06). AHSS scores increased from baseline to 7 AM by 1.0 ± 1.05 and 0.41 ± 1.08, for the placebo and active arms respectively (P = .30). There was no significant difference between average BrAC at 7 AM between the placebo and active arms.