Young men sleep better than young women when intoxicated, a new study revealed. Young women lost about 20 minutes of sleep per night when drunk, while men did not show a measurable difference in their sleep patterns.
One important myth about alcohol was already busted through previous research. Although many people believe alcohol helps them sleep better, the opposite is actually true. Alcohol may make a person fall asleep faster, but then they pay for it in the second half of the night, when a “rebound effect” takes place and causes a person to be more wakeful and lose sleep.
The latest study was conducted by University of Michigan researcher J. Todd Arnedt, a Ph.D. and director of the school’s behavioral sleep medicine program. The study enrolled 59 females and 34 males in their 20s.
All volunteers were given a mixed drink of caffeine-free Coke with either vodka or bourbon during one night of the study. The participants drank until they reached a peak breath-alcohol content level of about 0.11 percent, which is above the U.S. legal limit. Then, about a week later, they were given caffeine-free Coke with just a few drops of alcohol. Their sleep patterns were monitored at a sleep lab for 8 hours on both nights.
This was the first sizable study to prove that alcohol has a bigger effect on women than men. Researchers are not exactly sure why this is the case, but they think it may have something to do with the fact women clear alcohol from the bloodstream more quickly. This is because women have more body fat, and less body water than men, which also causes women to have higher breath-alcohol concentrations than men shortly after consuming alcohol.
One researcher said that the 20 minutes of sleep that women lost may not seem like a lot, but women woke more often and for longer periods of time. Also, 4 percent of sleep can make a difference over the long run.
Even though the sleep patterns for males were essentially unaffected by alcohol, both males and females reported that their overall sleep quality was lower with alcohol. As mentioned earlier, this study presents more evidence that insomniacs and others should not assume that alcohol will provide better overall sleep. Quite the contrary.
The researchers indicated that the study can serve as a foundation for additional, more in-depth studies that try to determine how alcohol-related sleep problems might contribute to problem drinking. Sleep disruption is already linked to alcoholism, as well as to relapse among recovering alcoholics.
Findings for the study will be published this May in Alcoholism: Clinical & Experimental Research.
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