How many times have you vowed not to ever drink again?

I am guessing it is directly proportionate to the number of times you've partied like there's no tomorrow. That pounding head, weak ear drums, dry throat, sensitive vision, nauseating and spaced out feeling makes you wanna go back in time and slap yourself before gulping down another shot.

But no matter how incredibly terrible hangovers one has endured, binge drinking somehow finds its way back every other weekend.

And if you are in Las Vegas...then well, you can imagine!



















There are a lot of home remedies and pills for curing hangovers, and of course every individual has his or her own special concoction. (Mine for example, is a huge glass of water with lime, honey, gingerade, pepper and glucose, accompanied with shit loads of cheese.) But in Sin City there is someone with a swanky bus who can get you out of your hangover hell within 45 minutes by rehyderating you with IVs containing anti-nausea medicines.























Dr. Jason Burke, a certified anesthesiologist has recently started a bus service called Hangover Heaven in Las Vegas that picks hungover party animals from their hotel/casino, takes them for a drive and within an hour cure their hangover and give them their day back.

"People come to Las Vegas to blow off some steam, relieve stress, and have a good time. Should we have to lose an entire day of our vacation because the bartender over-served us the night before? I say NO." shares Burke on his website.






























































The medication used by Hangover Heaven is FDA approved. For $90, Hangover Heaven promises to "rescue you from your despair".

Now, the critical question that arises here is that, isn't this another way of encouraging people to indulge in binge drinking?

Since the inception of this service, a lot of people have raised this question, but Bruke has strong faith in his treatment and has been trying his best to deal with this controversy. First, check out this video, where Fox News covers this story, and raises the same question:





According to Bruke, stating that the treatment does not work is a huge misconception and assures 95% success rate in resolving hangovers completely. "The science behind my treatment is sound and I am willing to discuss the scientific data with anybody." he says.

As far as the service being 'unethical' is concerned, Bruke does not believe that it advocates binge drinking. People often tend to loose count of their drinks after a while, and if they come knocking on his door looking for a cure, he sure will not turn them away.

"If a patient shows up in the ER with an elevated blood sugar, a physician should treat it with the appropriate agent. The same goes for a hangover. It is a combination of dehydration and acetylaldehyde toxicity. If a patient calls my office and wishes to be treated for it, I feel they should be treated. " shares Bruke, further adding, "worse things generally happen besides a hangover. They usually end up in jail, or wake up with a tiger in their hotel room. At that point, a hangover is the least of their worries."
























Another argument by Bruke is that many-a-times people reach Las Vegas after being on a flight for 14-15 hours, which makes them dehydrated. But within few hours, they hit the casino and continue partying till wee hours without drinking much water. They wake up the next morning with a serious hangover which steals away an entire day of vacation from them. He just wants to give that back to them.

There have been a lot of studies in the past that claim that there is no proven mechanism for curing an hangover, except from reducing the amount of ethanol consumed, and the only way to feel sober is to wait for your body to get rid of all the alcohol within you. According to British Medical Journal:

"No compelling evidence exists to suggest that any conventional or complementary intervention is effective for preventing or treating alcohol hangover. The most effective way to avoid the symptoms of alcohol induced hangover is to avoid drinking."

According to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, there are about 79,000 deaths due to excessive alcohol consumption in USA every year, making it the third leading lifestyle-related cause of death. In UK there have been 8,790 alcohol related deaths in 2010, 126 more then in 2099 (8,664).

Bruke's point of view does seem innocent, since he wants to help those who can't help but party excessively, and bring them back to their normal self. I believe that more than anything, one should rely on personal judgement, it is only you and you who is responsible for what and how much you drink, rest everything is secondary. Therefore, drink responsibly and enjoy yourself to the fullest!