Hangovers
Veisalgia, more commonly known as a hangover, is the name for the range of unpleasant physical effects that occur following the excessive consumption of alcoholic beverages. The most commonly experienced effects include nausea, vomiting, sensitivity to light and sound, headache, thirst, and lethargy. The degree of the hangover's severity is determined by factors occurring both before and after the alcohol is metabolized.
The main pre-metabolic cause of veisalgia is the quantity of alcohol consumed. Binge drinking is one of the most notorious contributors to hangovers. Empirical research suggests that even an increase in consumption from four to six beers can result in twice the susceptibility to end up with a hangover. Another pre-consumption factor that contributes to hangovers is the number of congeners present in alcohol. Congeners are chemical substances produced during the fermentation process that gives the alcohol color, taste, and aroma. Recent studies have shown that alcohol with a high congener content, such as bourbon (which is brown), is three times as likely to cause a hangover as the same amount of low-congener alcohol, such as vodka (which is clear).
Post-metabolic causes of veisalgia have less to do with the amount or kind of alcohol consumed and more to do with genetics. One of the major post-metabolic causes of veisalgia is the production of acetaldehyde. During the initial stages of metabolization, the liver produces an enzyme known as alcohol dehydrogenase. This enzyme works to convert the ethanol present in alcohol into the compound acetaldehyde. Studies have shown that individuals who lack this enzyme-and thus also lack the ability to break down ethanol in the liver-have a much higher rate of hangover occurrence, and experience more immediate and more severe hangover symptoms.
Question: What is the main idea of the passage?

Question

Hangovers
Veisalgia, more commonly known as a hangover, is the name for the range of unpleasant physical effects that occur following the excessive consumption of alcoholic beverages. The most commonly experienced effects include nausea, vomiting, sensitivity to light and sound, headache, thirst, and lethargy. The degree of the hangover's severity is determined by factors occurring both before and after the alcohol is metabolized.
The main pre-metabolic cause of veisalgia is the quantity of alcohol consumed. Binge drinking is one of the most notorious contributors to hangovers. Empirical research suggests that even an increase in consumption from four to six beers can result in twice the susceptibility to end up with a hangover. Another pre-consumption factor that contributes to hangovers is the number of congeners present in alcohol. Congeners are chemical substances produced during the fermentation process that gives the alcohol color, taste, and aroma. Recent studies have shown that alcohol with a high congener content, such as bourbon (which is brown), is three times as likely to cause a hangover as the same amount of low-congener alcohol, such as vodka (which is clear).
Post-metabolic causes of veisalgia have less to do with the amount or kind of alcohol consumed and more to do with genetics. One of the major post-metabolic causes of veisalgia is the production of acetaldehyde. During the initial stages of metabolization, the liver produces an enzyme known as alcohol dehydrogenase. This enzyme works to convert the ethanol present in alcohol into the compound acetaldehyde. Studies have shown that individuals who lack this enzyme-and thus also lack the ability to break down ethanol in the liver-have a much higher rate of hangover occurrence, and experience more immediate and more severe hangover symptoms.
Question: What is the main idea of the passage?

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

This is the main idea of the passage because it covers each of the key ideas presented in the passage.
Veisalgia is a potentially life-threatening condition caused by the overconsumption of certain types of alcohol is not the main idea because the passage does not mention that veisalgia is a life-threatening condition.
Veisalgia has a number of pre-metabolic causes including the quantity of alcohol that is consumed is a supporting fact, and therefore not the main idea of the passage.
Veisalgia occurs when alcohol is broken down into the compound acetaldehyde through the action of the enzyme alcohol dehydrogenase is an important supporting fact, but is not the main idea of the passage.

Hangovers Veisalgia, More Commonly Known as a Hangover, Is the Name