Alcohol

Alcohol's Disruptive Effects on

Sleep May Be More Significant Among Women

Researchers have known for decades that
alcohol can initially deepen sleep during the
early part of the night but then disrupt sleep
during the latter part of the night; this is called
a "rebound effect."

A new study of the influence of gender and family
history of alcoholism on sleep has found that
intoxication can increase feelings of sleepiness
while at the same time disrupt actual sleep measures
in healthy women more than in healthy men.

"It's clear that a substantial portion of the population
uses alcohol on a regular basis to help with sleep
problems," said researchers from the departments
of psychiatry and neurology at the University of
Michigan. "This perception may relate to the fact that
alcohol helps people fall asleep quickly and they may
be less aware of the disruptive effects of alcohol on
sleep later in the night."

They decided to examine gender differences in the
effects of alcohol on sleep because very few alcohol
administration studies have included female
participants and, since women metabolize alcohol
differently than men, it seemed reasonable to expect
differences by gender.

"Our decision to examine family history was based
on some observational studies showing different
sleep characteristics among family-history positive

participants compared to family-history negative
participants," he explained. "Family-history positive
individuals also seem to be more resistant to the
acute intoxicating effects of alcohol than individuals
without a family history of alcoholism."

They recruited 93 healthy adults (59 women, 34 men)
in their twenties through advertisements in the Boston
area, 29 of whom had a positive family history of
alcoholism. Between 8:30 and 10:00 p.m., participants
consumed either a placebo beverage or alcohol to the
point of intoxication as determined by breath alcohol concentration (BrAC). Their sleep was then monitored
with polysomnography between 11:00 p.m. and
7:00 a.m. Participants also completed questionnaires
at bedtime and upon awakening.

"Alcohol increased self-reported sleepiness and disrupted
sleep quality more in women than men," said the team.
"Sleep quality following alcohol did not differ between
family-history positive and family-history negative
subjects. Morning ratings of sleep quality were worse
following alcohol than placebo. Findings also confirmed
results from other studies that a high dose of alcohol
solidifies sleep in the first half of the night, meaning
more deep sleep, but disrupts it in the second part
of the night, meaning more wakefulness."

With respect to gender differences, women objectively
had fewer hours of sleep, woke more frequently and
for more minutes during the night, and had more
disrupted sleep than men.

"These differences may be related to differences in
alcohol metabolism," explained the researchers "since
women show a more rapid decline in BrAC following
alcohol consumption than men. It is important to note
that the peak BrACs were equivalent between men
and women in our study so the findings are not due
to higher BrACs among the female subjects. We also
do not believe that the differences were due to
differences in alcohol experience because the prior
alcohol use was also equivalent between the men
and women."

In summary, this study's primary contribution was to
demonstrate that the effects of alcohol on objectively
measured sleep quality are different between men
and women at equivalent BrACs.

"These findings may have implications for future
studies examining the relationship between sleep
quality and risk for the development of alcohol use
disorders, as well as studies evaluating how sleep
quality relates to relapse among recovering alcoholic
individuals," they said.

Journal Reference:

"Sleep Following Alcohol Intoxication in Healthy, Young
Adults: Effects of Sex and Family History of Alcoholism"
Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research, 2011;

Editor's Note: This article is not intended to provide medical advice,

diagnosis or treatment.

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