Listened to an article about this as David Nutt was talking. It seems the sons of male heavy drinkers could be born with a natural tolerance to alcohol. They will discover this when they come of age and start going out with their friends. They will often be the ones that don't get hangovers and therefore can "go again" the next day while everyone else is suffering. (They are also still young men so will most likely be ok healthwise at this point)
I do in fact know a 60 year old man like this and he's basically never had a hangover in his life - his dad was a heavy drinker.
The discovery came about when David Nutt interviewed all the ill people on the male ward who had been heavy drinkers all their lives, and to his amazement, not one of them talked about hangovers or the "never again" type of of vow.
summary of the article
Sons of male alcoholics (SOMAs) are at markedly heightened genetic risk for the development of alcohol abuse. Study of SOMAs could therefore conceivably increase the efficiency of research aimed at uncovering those heritable factors that predispose to alcoholism. SOMAs manifest observable behavioral, cognitive, and psychophysiological abnormalities while sober and react idiosyncratically to alcohol intoxication. They are most commonly described as conduct disordered and hyperactive, appear heir to a variety of deficits in verbal and abstract cognition, and perform more poorly in the academic environment. SOMAs are characterized by abnormal patterns of cued psychophysiological response, and appear more sensitive to the putatively reinforcing aspects of alcohol intoxication. Various methodological weaknesses permeate the relevant literature. Some straightforward improvements are suggested.
I do in fact know a 60 year old man like this and he's basically never had a hangover in his life - his dad was a heavy drinker.
The discovery came about when David Nutt interviewed all the ill people on the male ward who had been heavy drinkers all their lives, and to his amazement, not one of them talked about hangovers or the "never again" type of of vow.
summary of the article
Sons of male alcoholics (SOMAs) are at markedly heightened genetic risk for the development of alcohol abuse. Study of SOMAs could therefore conceivably increase the efficiency of research aimed at uncovering those heritable factors that predispose to alcoholism. SOMAs manifest observable behavioral, cognitive, and psychophysiological abnormalities while sober and react idiosyncratically to alcohol intoxication. They are most commonly described as conduct disordered and hyperactive, appear heir to a variety of deficits in verbal and abstract cognition, and perform more poorly in the academic environment. SOMAs are characterized by abnormal patterns of cued psychophysiological response, and appear more sensitive to the putatively reinforcing aspects of alcohol intoxication. Various methodological weaknesses permeate the relevant literature. Some straightforward improvements are suggested.