Before taking a glass of wine on a flight and then trying to get some rest, travelers might want to give it some serious thought.
Thorax, a peer-reviewed monthly journal published by the British Medical Journal (BMJ), recently published a study that found drinking alcohol prior to falling asleep on an aircraft may result in a drop in blood oxygen levels and an increase in heart rate.
There is already less oxygen in the air inside an aircraft than there is in the normal atmosphere. Sleep and alcohol consumption both further lower oxygen levels, according to experts.
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auspices of the German Aerospace Center’s Department of Sleep and Human Factors Research, one group of healthy individuals spent two nights in a sleep laboratory. Research.
An additional group slept for the same amount of time in a hypobaric (lower oxygen) altitude chamber that mimicked an aircraft.
Alcohol was consumed by the participants prior to one of the nights. The German researchers discovered that after consuming alcohol, those in the hypobaric chamber had decreased blood oxygen levels, elevated heart rates, and worsened sleep quality.
“[Airplane] passengers with cardiopulmonary diseases have an increased risk of aggravation of symptoms due to the decreased cabin pressure at cruising altitude, which is amplified during sleep,” the investigators stated.
