Like a good whiskey, aging improves a drinker with time, as getting older may prevent the physical and existential pain of the hangover. 

A large study of Danes found that drinkers aged 60 and older experience fewer and gentler symptoms of hangovers following a drinking binge, suggesting that the malady fades with age.

But whether older people were simply more adept with avoiding the pain or whether they might develop a greater tolerance, the study did not confirm. A confluence of factors may influence one’s perception of life the day following a night of excess.

The study results say more about the effects of drinking alcohol over a lifetime, according to Richard Stephens, a psychologist at Keele University in the UK. Previous work has shown a positive relationship between the severity of the hangovers and developing alcoholism later. This relationship could be explained by a drinker’s urge to soothe the pain of a hangover with a few drinks in the morning, seeking a softer landing into sobriety.