How much alcohol affects the quality of sleep? | The State
He high alcohol consumption is one of the habits related to Lifestyle, more recurrent and certainly worrying in the Modern society. While it is true that alcohol intake is a ancient custom that for years has been well regarded, medical experts they keep warning us about their side effects.
In fact the issue of alcohol consumption has called special way attention the last year. Derived from the pandemic caused by Covid-19, it has statistics and studies in which there is a considerable increase in the Alcohol intake. Specifically in most of the references mentioned is directly related to anxiety, high levels of stress and boredom.
It is worth mentioning that still prior to the pandemic, high alcohol consumption was already considered a worrying topic for health systems in U.S already world level. In such a way that various campaigns have been created that seek raise awareness of the population Over the devastating effects that brings alcohol. Among the main ones are digestive disturbances, bleeding from the stomach or esophagus, inflammation and damage to the pancreas and liver, changes in blood pressure, malnutrition, depression, altered mental states and sleep disorders.
While there are many consequences to Physical Health arising from alcohol consumption, the signs of deterioration in the mental health. Alcohol is a central nervous system depressant what makes the brain activity decreases. As well has sedative effects that can induce feelings of relaxation and drowsiness, but alcohol consumption, especially in excess, has been linked to a poor quality and duration of sleep. It is a fact that people suffering from disorders related to excessive alcohol consumption, eventually they usually experience insomnia symptoms.
In fact, there are studies in which have shown that alcohol consumption can aggravate symptoms of sleep apnea. Although doctors and specialists who have studied the subject, affirm that drink alcohol in moderation it is considered safe; We can’t forget that it’s a drink that I know relates and processes differently in each individual. It is also nothing new to emphasize that it is a substance highly addictive, which generates dependency.
How does alcohol affect sleep?
On many occasions when you start with insomnia symptoms or any disorder related to sleep, we usually look for all kinds of reasons and curiously one of the last considerations is its direct relationship with the high alcohol consumption.
Result very interesting know what happens in the body. Dfter a person consumes alcohol, the substance is absorbed in the bloodstream from the stomach and small intestine. Enzymes in the liver eventually metabolize alcohol, but because this is a rather slow process, excess alcohol will follow circulating throughout the body. This usually varies from person to person, such that the effects of alcohol they depend largely on the consumer. The important factors include the amount of alcohol and how quickly it is consumed, as well as age, sex, body type and the physical form of the person.
The truth is that relationship between alcohol and the dream, is far from being a new topic and has been studied since 1930s, although it is an area that requires further investigation, there are some relevant references. Research has shown that people who drink large amounts of alcohol before going to bed they are usually prone to delaying the onset of sleep, which means that they need more time to fall asleep.
As the Hepatic enzymes metabolize alcohol during the night and blood alcohol level drops, these people are also more likely to experience sleep interruptions and decreased quality of sleep.
Since alcohol is a sedative, the beginning of the dream It is usually shorter for drinkers and some fall into a sdeep sleep fairly quickly. As the night progresses, this can create a imbalance between slow wave sleep and REM sleep, this decreases the overall quality of sleep, which can result in a shorter sleep duration and more sleep interruptions.
The insomnia is considered the most common sleep disorder, is defined as “A persistent difficulty with the initiation, duration, consolidation or quality of sleep”. Insomnia becomes chronic and occurs despite the opportunity and the desire to sleepr, long-term leads to extreme fatigue, mood disturbances, apathy, low performance and irritability.
Experts have found that people who they drink excessively, end up creating a vicious circle, which consists of self-medicate with alcohol to fall asleep, then they usually consume caffeine and other stimulants during the day to stay awake and end with more alcohol as a sedative to counteract the effects of these stimulants.
How much alcohol is related to problems?
To begin with it is important to define How much is drinking a lot? According scientific references, it is considered as a high consumption the excessive intake in a short period of time resulting in a blood alcohol level of 0.08% or more. In these cases it is when it is considered particularly harmful to the sleep quality. It also has recent studies, in which it is confirmed that those people who participate in weekly binges are significantly more likely to have Sleeping problems and stay asleep. These findings apply to both men and women, and emphasize teens and young adults.
It is worth mentioning that the moderate alcohol consumption is loosely defined as up to two drinks a day for the mens and one drink a day for the women. While excesive drinking it means more than 15 drinks per week for the mens and more than eight drinks per week for women.
Binge drinking will likely have a most negative impact on sleep that consumption mild or moderate alcohol. It has a relevant study published in 2018, which compared the quality of sleep among subjects who consumed different amounts of alcohol:
- Low amounts of alcohol (less than two servings a day for men or one serving a day for women) decreased sleep quality by 9.3%.
- Moderate amounts of alcohol (two servings a day for men or one serving a day for women) decreased sleep quality by 24%.
- High amounts of alcohol (more than two servings a day for men or one serving a day for women) decreased sleep quality by 39.2%.
Without a doubt the study results are revealing and make it clear that the quality of sleep decreases as the amount of alcohol consumed. The recommendation is simple, consume alcoholic beverages in moderation and on special occasions and try stop drinking alcohol at least four hours before going to bed.
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