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Alcohol Makes People Fall Asleep Sooner But
Disrupts Sleep Quality.
Alcohol
may help you get to sleep faster and sleep better at first, but it disrupts
your sleep later in the night, according to British researchers who reviewed
all known scientific studies on alcohol's impact on sleep.
The
authors said they hope their findings will help people understand that drinking
alcohol only gives the impression of improving sleep, and that it should not be
used as a sleep aid.
The
review found that alcohol consumption shortens the time it takes to get to
sleep and increases initial deep sleep, but reduces rapid eye movement (REM)
sleep. Lack of REM sleep can harm concentration, motor skills and memory.
"One
hypothesis is that alcohol acts like medications that are used for depression
and anxiety," review corresponding author Irshaad Ebrahim, medical
director at the London Sleep Centre, said in a journal news release.
"Studies
on patients with depression have identified that untreated patients had
excessive REM sleep, particularly in the early part of the night, and that
antidepressant medication suppressed REM sleep. Alcohol acts like
antidepressants, reducing REM sleep particularly in the first part of the
night. This impact of alcohol on REM sleep may explain the mood elevation and
anxiety reduction associated with alcohol use," Ebrahim said.
Ebrahim's
colleague, Chris Idzikowski, director of the Edinburgh Sleep Center in
Scotland, pointed out that the review helps clarify the research findings.
"Certainly a mythology seems to have developed around the impact of
alcohol on sleep," Idzikowski said in the news release.
"In
sum, alcohol on the whole is not useful for improving a whole night's sleep.
Sleep may be deeper to start with, but then becomes disrupted. Additionally,
that deeper sleep will probably promote snoring and poorer breathing. So, one
shouldn't expect better sleep with alcohol," Idzikowski said.
###
Source:
Health News
The
review appeared online January 22, 2013 and is in the April print issue of the
journal Alcoholism: Clinical & Experimental Research:
Clinical
and Experimental Research and are currently available at Early View: Ebrahim,
I. O., Shapiro, C. M., Williams, A. J. and Fenwick, P. B. (2013), Alcohol and Sleep I: Effects on Normal
Sleep. Alcohol Clin Exp Res. doi:
10.1111/acer.12006http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/acer.12006/abstract
More information:
The
U.S. National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke has more about sleep.
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