Thorax

Air travel + alcohol + sleep: A risky mix?

July 18, 2024

The combination of alcohol and reduced atmospheric pressure had a supra-additive effect; even young and healthy individuals experienced clinically relevant desaturations (SpO2 <90%) and heart rate accelerations during sleep.

• Two groups of healthy individuals spent either two nights with a 4-hour sleep opportunity (00:00-04:00 hours) in a sleep lab (n=23; 53 m above sea level) or in an altitude chamber (n=17; 753 hPa corresponding to 2438 m above sea level, hypobaric condition). Participants consumed alcohol before one of the nights (mean blood alcohol concentration, 0.043).
• When alcohol exposure was combined with the hypobaric condition, SpO2 decreased to a median of 85.32% while heart rate increased to a median of 87.73 bpm during sleep, compared with 88.07% and 72.90 bpm, respectively, in the non-alcohol hypobaric condition.
• In the sleep lab (sea level), median SpO2 was 94.97% and median heart rate was 76.97 bpm in the alcohol condition, compared with 95.88% and 63.74 bpm, respectively, in the non-alcohol condition.
• The time spent below the clinical hypoxia threshold of 90% SpO2 was 201.18 min in the combined exposure, 173.28 min in the hypobaric condition, and 0 min in both sleep lab conditions. Deep sleep was reduced under the combined exposure compared with both sleep lab conditions.

Source:

Trammer RA, at al. (2024, June 3). Thorax. Effects of moderate alcohol consumption and hypobaric hypoxia: implications for passengers' sleep, oxygen saturation and heart rate on long-haul flights. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/38830667/