Turns out your slightly mental mate, who cracks out the breakfast beer when the rest of you are clinging to paracetamol, bacon sandwiches and old Friends re-runs, might be onto something. Although it probably makes sense to you that alcohol might help numb the pain of a hangover by simply getting you p*ssed again (it numbs the pain of everything else, so why not?), but there could actually be a little more at play. Most alcohol will contain small amounts of a chemical called methanol as a byproduct of the fermentation process. When methanol accumulates in your system, it can give you a stinking hangover as the body converts it to formaldehyde (famous for its use in preserving dead bodies). Patients suffering from severe methanol poisoning (hopefully not cause by drinking too much) are often treated with ethanol, the main component of alcoholic drinks, in order to prevent it making the transformation into formaldehyde. This is all "very hypothetical" and it should be borne in mind that people who subscribe to the "hair of the dog" theory are statistically more likely to be known by another name: Alcoholics. If you really want to avoid the hangover, just stay in with a good book or something (now I really do sound like your mum).
