游走在灰色地带的解酒药产业

    2013年最重大的一个饮酒之夜前夕，我们听到了一个坏消息——

    世界上可能没有办法治疗你在1月1日醒来时难免遇到的宿醉症状。

    尽管如此，站在几乎所有的加油站或酒类商店，只要环顾四周，就会令你燃起在2014年不会遭遇宿醉的希望。毕竟，在啤酒箱和大瓶红酒的旁边，可能摆放着几种饮料、药丸或者胶囊。生产厂家都宣称，如果你在大量饮酒之前或之后服用它们，你就会好受得多。

    欢迎来到治疗宿醉的隐秘行业。

    “宿醉治疗是一场骗局，”杜克大学（Duke University）药物学教授、《完全披露：酒精、迷幻药等常见滥用药物的那些事》（Buzzed: The Straight Facts About the Most Used and Abused Drugs from Alcohol to Ecstasy）的联合作者辛西娅•库恩博士说：“大部分解酒产品推销的很多成分都无法治疗宿醉症状，阿司匹林和咖啡因等成分可能会有所帮助，但它们的含量比其他产品要少得多。”

    简单来说，喝下的酒精越多，身体就越难代谢这种有毒物质，第二天醒来时就会越难受。恶心、头痛、疲惫和口渴是最常见的宿醉症状。对于大多数饮酒者而言，只有一种经过验证的宿醉治疗方法，那就是时间。

    上述事实在医学界里得到普遍认同，但依然没能阻止几家公司试图靠治疗宿醉来赚钱。NOHO公司是“防宿醉”饮料NoHo的生产商，公司CEO杰伊•戈迪纳预计，公司的销售额将在三年内增长到1亿美元，前提是宿醉虽然无法治疗，但可以预防。戈迪纳声称，夜晚饮酒之前喝下一瓶两盎司的NoHo饮料，就能让身体“预载”姜根和仙人镜萃取物等天然成分，帮助酒精代谢。2013年，NoHo销售额增长了40%。

    “我们的产品能增强身体机能，在你喝下第一杯酒之前就发挥作用，”戈迪纳说。“我们是酒精行业里的防晒霜。我们让你的身体远离酒精导致的不良反应。”NoHo每瓶价格为3美元，在全美2.5万家商店有售。

    美国食品药物管理局（Food and Drug Administration，简称FDA）把NoHo和其他宿醉治疗产品归类为膳食补充剂。与药物生产商不同，补充剂生产商不可以宣称他们的产品能治疗、减轻或预防疾病。NoHo这类产品的营销应该以“清肝”或者“舒缓肠胃”为中心。

    但FDA膳食补充剂部门主管丹•法布里坎特表示，NoHo的成分和宣传都没有得到FDA的审查或认可。

    On the eve of one of the biggest drinking nights of the year, we have some bad news.

    There is likely no cure for the hangover that you will inevitably wake up with come January 1st.

    Despite this dark truth, a look around practically any gas station or liquor store could still give you hope for a hangover-free 2014. After all, next to the cases of beer and magnums of wine there are likely several drinks, pills, or capsules from companies all promising that they will make you feel better if you take them before or after a big night out.

    Welcome to the hazy business of treating your hangover.

    "Hangover treatments and cures are a scam," said Dr. Cynthia Kuhn, a professor of pharmacology at Duke University and the co-author of Buzzed: The Straight Facts About the Most Used and Abused Drugs from Alcohol to Ecstasy. "Most hangover products market a lot of ingredients that cannot change hangover symptoms, or ingredients like aspirin and caffeine that might help but are available for much less on their own."

    Put simply, the more alcohol you drink, the harder it is for your body to metabolize the toxic substance and the worse you typically feel the next morning. Nausea, headaches, fatigue, and thirst are the most common symptoms the morning after a night of overdrinking. For most drinkers, the only proven cure for a bad hangover is time.

    These largely agreed-upon facts in the medical community have not stopped several companies from trying to turn a profit in the hangover treatment industry. Jay Grdina, the CEO of NOHO Inc. (DRNK) and the maker of the "no hangover defense" beverage NoHo, predicts his company will grow to $100 million in sales in three years on the premise that while you cannot cure a hangover, you can prevent ever getting one in the first place. By drinking a two-ounce bottle of NoHo before a night out, Grdina claims you can "preload" your system with natural ingredients like ginger root and prickly pear extract that help metabolize alcohol. In 2013, NoHo sales increased by 40%.

    "Our product works prior to your first drink by fortifying your body," said Grdina about the $3 beverage sold in 25,000 stores nationwide. "We are the sunblock of alcohol. We protect your body against the adverse effects of alcohol."

    The Food and Drug Administration classifies NoHo and other hangover products like it as dietary supplements. Unlike drugmakers, supplement manufacturers cannot make claims that their products will cure, mitigate, treat, or prevent a disease. Instead, a product like NoHo centers its marketing on how it "cleanses the liver" or "soothes the stomach and digestive system."

    Still, none of its ingredients or claims have been vetted or approved by the FDA, according to Dan Fabricant, the director of the FDA's Division of Dietary Supplement Programs.