Pill to cure hangover

It will come too late to avoid the unpleasant effects of the inevitable New Year hangover.

But a pill which claims to banish that morning-after thumping head could be on sale in British shops within months.

The RU-21, which refers to the American age limit for drinking, has been in huge demand since it was launched in the U.S. in May.

Californian-based manufacturer Spirit Sciences has revealed that it now plans to start stocking British retailers in 2004.

The remedy was invented by Soviet scientists after the Second World War to help KGB agents drink their targets under the table and then remain fresh the next day.

The pill was first marketed as a hangover cure in Russia in 1989.

RU-21, which is sold on the Internet at £5.65 for 20 pills, is said to work by increasing the ability of cells in the body to take up oxygen and so recover from the slowing-down effect of alcohol.

One pill must be taken to counteract each drink.

The makers claim that the combination of vitamin C, glutamine, fumaric and succinic acids leaves drinkers clear-headed the next day and stops the body from producing an enzyme which turns alcohol into acetaldehyde, a toxic by-product.

Succinic and fumaric acid help break down acetaldehyde, while the amino acid glutamine is said to dispel the effects of alcohol on co-ordination.

RU-21 can be sold over the counter as a food supplement, rather than a drug, because its ingredients are deemed to be natural.

It is also exempt from the stringent testing laws faced by new drugs.

Simon Fradd, a spokesman for the British Medical Association, said: 'This drug raises the question of whether it works or not as it does not have to be fully tested.

'If it does work well, it could make people drink more without fear of suffering the next day.

'Anything that offers people a pain-free experience may encourage particularly young people to drink more, especially as alcohol and binge-drinking is such a problem among the younger generation in the UK.'

But Emil Chiaberi, a spokesman for Spirit Sciences, predicted that the pill would be widely welcomed. 'Hundreds of thousands have tried it and found that it does work,' he said.

'It is not meant for people who abuse alcohol but instead is meant to help those who have a hangover after two or three drinks and allows them to avoid it altogether.

'It is not a miracle pill and people should drink responsibly.' RU-21 has attracted criticism from some scientific quarters. Dr Mark Mycyk, a professor of medicine at Northwestern University in Chicago, described it as a 'bogus pill'.

Graham Archard, of the Royal College of General Practitioners, said: 'There is nothing here to prevent a hangover.'

The Home Secretary, David Blunkett, has already urged party-goers to moderate their drinking over the holiday season amid fears that it will add to health problems and incidents of violence.