REAL LIFE NEWS: SEE, I TOLD YOU BEER WAS GOOD FOR YOU!
by Hazed
There’s a colloquial saying that the ‘Hair of the dog that bit you’ is a cure for a bad hangover – in other words, take a drink or two to alleviate the pain. Now a new study shows that there might be some truth in this, and that drinking a couple of pints of beer to relieve pain seems to do better than taking painkillers.
Researchers from the University of Greenwich in London conducted a series of studies and found that consuming two pints of beer can cut discomfort by a quarter. The elevated blood alcohol content makes your pain threshold rise.
The researchers said, “Findings suggest that alcohol is an effective analgesic that delivers clinically-relevant reductions in ratings of pain intensity, which could explain alcohol misuse in those with persistent pain, despite its potential consequences for long-term health.”
Dr Trevor Thompson, who lead the study, explained that alcohol “can be compared to opioid drugs such as codeine and the effect is more powerful than paracetamol.
“If we can make a drug without the harmful side-effects, then we could have something that is potentially better than what is out there at the moment.”
So next time you are in pain, rather than reaching for the aspirin or ibuprofen, you should pour yourself a beer or two!
