Alcohol and sleep deprivation are closely linked. However the connection is misunderstood, because alcohol is still wrongly regarded as a “sleep mediator” or even a “sleep robber”, in particular because it reduces the sleep quality. We must be careful with holiday consumption as well.
Through sleep disturbances we understand nocturnal interruptions of the sleep – potentially signaling sleep disorders.
About 30% of the population suffers from various sleep disorders.
The most common form is temporary insomnia, which subsides after two to three days. Disorders lasting two to three weeks are defined as short-term sleep disorders, everything beyond that as long-term sleep disorders. About 30% of the population suffer from it. The main cause is stress, but a large number of illnesses can also lead to sleep disorders. Last but not least, alcohol reduces the quality of sleep.
What are sleep disorders?
The human body is subject to a sleep-wake rhythm – as regular as possible – which is closely linked to the hormonal biorhythm. If this rhythm is disturbed, sleep disturbances occur. The simplest consequences of sleep deprivation are daytime fatigue and concentration disorders with reduced productivity and performance.
Extreme forms – such as the reversal of the day-night rhythm – can have the most severe psychological consequences: from depression to the development of delusions. Today, this development can be found more frequently among young people who do not leave their computers or other displays at night and thus seriously disrupt their day-night rhythm.
The trip to the doctor’s office is often unsatisfactory, as it is mainly benzodiazepines and antidepressants that are used pharmacologically to treat sleep disorders. Some of these approaches are quite questionable, as the substance trazodone stands out here as a bad idea. Moderately effective as an antidepressant, trazodone has been consciously “converted” into a sleeping pill in recent years.
Sleep aid alcohol?
In our culture the idea persists that alcohol is an effective sleeping aid. The “beer before going to bed” or the “eighth red wine” are popular “tips”. In fact, it seems to be true that alcohol actually relaxes at first. As a substance, it can do something that the pharmaceutical industry has not yet “brought together” – it is a combination of antidepressant and tranquilizer in terms of its active qualities.
Tranquilizers – especially benzodiazepines – are “relaxation drugs” with a high addictive potential that should not be taken for longer than 3 weeks. So it seems to be quite a great thing that alcohol can do…
Alcohol impairs the recovery effect of sleep.
The sleep quality suffers
Unfortunately, definitely not, as an Australian study has shown. A team of researchers from the University of Melbourne examined 24 healthy 18- to 21-year-olds, of whom 50% were female and 50% male. Before falling asleep, they received alcohol or placebo in the form of orange juice with and without vodka. Polysomnography (recording of sleep phases, sleep depth, etc.) and EEG were used to measure the sleep quality of the study participants. With interesting results:
Alcohol increased the low-frequency delta waves, which are signs of deep sleep, while alpha waves, which dominate during the day and are responsible for wakefulness, also increased. This was interpreted as a sign of disturbed sleep. This means that alcohol initially functions as an aid to falling asleep, but ultimately sleep is disturbed and the recovery effect is reduced.
Further effects on sleep are scientifically proven:
- Rebound effect – as the initial effect subsides, the body becomes “more awake” and sleep becomes more restless.
- Sleeping pills and alcohol – not advisable, as it can be life-threatening in too high a dose. The combination of prescription drugs and alcohol causes damage to the nervous system, which has a negative effect on the ability to react and coordination.
- Sweating – Alcohol also leads to vasodilatation, the blood vessels dilate. This makes the skin warmer. The organism tries to cool the skin by increasing sweat production. The side effect of cooling is also that sleep is disturbed.
- Snoring and sleep apnea (respiratory arrest) – Alcohol relaxes the muscles. This leads to loud snoring. But it can also narrow the trachea to such an extent that the body is insufficiently supplied with oxygen. Sleep apnea syndrome is a disease in which the trachea collapses at night due to a lack of muscle tension. Those affected are unable to breathe and wake up. Alcohol can exacerbate this disease.
- Increased urine production – each gram of alcohol increased your urine volume by 10 ml as alcohol blocks the release of antidiuretic hormones. This increases the amount of urine. In combination with the anaesthetic effect of alcohol and muscle relaxation, this can lead to uncontrolled urination / bedwetting during high alcohol consumption.
- Women increasingly affected – as early as 2011, a study was already dealing with gender-specific differences in the reaction to alcohol. Alcohol had a worse effect on the sleep of the female test persons than on that of the male participants – women can sleep less after alcohol consumption, wake up more often and thus the sleep quality suffers. This could potentially be due to the fact that women can break down alcohol faster than men. As a result, the calming effects of alcohol disappear more quickly and women’s sleep becomes restless earlier.
- Dreamlessness – dreams play an essential role in the processing of experiences and emotions. Thus they are a basic prerequisite for an intact psyche. Sleep is divided into REM (Rapid Eye Movement) and non-REM phases. The former are the dream phases. Depending on the amount of alcohol, the duration of the REM phases is shortened.
REM and non-REM
Our sleep is not equally deep throughout the whole period – it is in phases that repeat themselves several times during the night. Sleep is divided into five phases, which can be distinguished by brain waves of varying intensity: the NON-REM phases with stages 1 to 4 and the so-called REM phases (Rapid Eye Movement), which are characterised by rapid movement of the eyes under the eyelids.
About every hour and a half sleepers fall into a strange state: the heart beats faster, respiratory rate and blood pressure rise, the eyes “wander” back and forth with closed eyelids – the REM phase has begun. The discovery of REM sleep by sleep researcher Nathaniel Kleitmann dates back only about 50 years.
While deep sleep is largely attributed to the task of physical regeneration, sleep researchers believe that REM sleep is necessary for mental recovery. The role of rapid eye movements is still not entirely agreed upon in sleep research.
We spend about 20% of our sleep in REM phases.
The REM phase
During REM sleep, we have the most intense dreams – that is why this sleep stage is also called the dream phase. The eye movements are particularly strong, heartbeat, blood pressure, and breathing become faster and more irregular, signs of sexual arousal can also be observed.
In the REM phase, the electroencephalogram indicates increased activity, but at the same time muscle tone is greatly reduced. This process is actively controlled by our brain. Without the reduced muscle tone, the sleeper would actually perform all dreamed movements, which would of course be fatal. Those who are awakened from REM sleep can remember their dreams particularly well. During a sleep time of 8 hours, 3 to 6 REM phases are found, which is about 20% of the total sleep time.
Measure sleep quality yourself?
Using so-called fitness trackers or certain smart watches, one can try to assess the quality of sleep at least roughly using suitable algorithms. More is unfortunately not yet possible, therefore these electronic devices cannot replace the attendance of a medical sleep laboratory with stubborn sleep problems. In addition, these devices repeatedly cause measurement errors, some of them considerable, which affects the fundamentally positive approach.
Insomnia – the consequences?
This comprehensive topic can only be touched upon briefly here. “Modern lifestyle” is the name given to the frequent behavioural disorder in which people put themselves under such pressure to experience things that they ultimately have problems with silence. These include permanent media flooding, permanent availability, permanent willingness to communicate, etc., in short, elements of our modern “digital” lifestyle.
In cities, the so-called light pollution is still overlooked – because light leads to the suppression of the biorhythm hormone melatonin, which helps control our sleep rhythm. However, the therapeutic use of melatonin has not led to satisfactory results. This phenomenon is also behind the problems that arise during night and shift work.
Last but not least, it should also be mentioned that all those who have to work shifts are increasingly affected by sleep problems – especially from middle age.
Besides there are quite strange opinions of sufficient sleep. That concerns not least particularly children and young people: An excessive use of electronic media disturbs their natural biorhythms early on.
Further causes can be:
- Lack of exercise
- Sleep apnea for obesity
- Periodic leg movements due to involuntary muscle twitching
- Restless Legs Syndrome (RLS, Restless Legs Syndrome)
- Magnesium deficiency with nightly leg cramps
- Heartburn with gastroesophageal reflux
hyperthyroidism - cardiac insufficiency with shortness of breath and nocturnal urge to urinate
The consistent disruption of sleep quality over many years has massive to catastrophic consequences. At the beginning there are concentration disorders, general loss of performance, listlessness and tiredness during the day. Anxiety and (exhaustion) depression, which can ultimately turn into delusional states, wait as an intermediate stage.
In the background of this development are the manifold – not to say incalculable – consequences of a disturbed biorhythm. What was previously only suspected is increasingly the subject of intensive research. Disturbances of the biorhythm disturb practically all body systems up to the defense system.
Lack of sleep makes people hungry and increases the risk of overweight and diabetes.
Less known effects of sleep deprivation
Just one week of insomnia is enough to disturb our inner clock, as six hours are considered a critical threshold for sleep deprivation, whereby the need for sleep can vary from person to person and decrease with age.
Studies of children in particular have shown that sleep deprivation and overweight go hand in hand. Put simply: lack of sleep makes you voracious! The University of Berkeley in California asked 23 people of normal weight to go to the sleep laboratory. At first they were allowed to sleep 8 hours, but not at all on the second night. During the night apples and peanut butter crackers were available as food. In a picture test the participants then showed a marked preference for high-calorie foods such as desserts, chocolate and potato chips, depending on their fatigue.
In another study by the University of Chicago, after a short night’s rest, subjects showed a 20% reduction in the concentration of the fat cell hormone leptin in their blood, while the proportion of the stomach hormone ghrelin increased by almost a third. While leptin inhibits hunger, ghrelin increases appetite. Endocannabinoids also rise in the blood after a short night – they convey a feeling of hunger. Epidemiological studies show that sleep deprivation promotes the development of obesity and, as a result, type 2 diabetes. Unfortunately, however, the background is not yet understood.
Oxidative stress due to lack of sleep
Another reinforcing factor in this context is that the lack of sleep increases oxidative stress, which is regarded as a precursor of all types of inflammation. Here the potential consequences range from diabetes and atherosclerosis to psychological disorders, in which subclinical inflammations can also be detected.
The suspicions regarding the immune system even go so far as to assume a reduced effect of vaccines due to sleep deprivation.
Various studies over the past 7 years have also suggested a relationship between sleep deprivation and breast cancer incidence. The background should consist of the fact that cancer cells grow faster in the awake phase.
Biological help CBD?
The main active substance of natural hemp – cannabidiol (CBD) – represents a fundamental chance to have a sleep-inducing effect. Relaxing and dose-dependent even antidepressive properties are assigned to it. However, really good studies are still missing.
A review article in the journal “Current Psychiatry Reports” confirmed the positive research results in the treatment of sleep disorders. That can be confirmed carefully in therapeutic practice (www.aiaasr.com) at Institut for animal-supported Salutogenese & research. First experiences refer in individual cases to favorable effects with a combination of pain and sleep problems. One should begin because of the very different preparations and active substance contents consciously with low doses and counterattack the effective dose.
From today’s point of view, however, there are many unanswered questions regarding the use of CBD, as the available pharmacological options are neither satisfactory nor suitable for long-term use. This is a situation which certainly encourages a therapy trial with CBD for sleep problems, but which should not take place without professional support.
Auxiliary and home remedies
Naturopathy knows a number of plants that promise relief such as lemon balm, hops, valerian, lavender, ashwaghanda (Indian berry) or mallow and others that are available as tea blends.
More essential than the administration of substances in this context is, however, a sufficiently good sleep hygiene, which helps to improve the following tips:
– do not go to bed too late
– regular exercise
-minimize (blue) light before sleeping
– Avoid situations (e.g. films) that cause agitation before going to bed.
– maintain a constant daily rhythm
– Switch off sources of stress
– well ventilated bedroom with low room temperature
– eat lightly in the evening and drink only little alcohol
– no caffeinated drinks or nicotine
– it is beneficial for children to adhere to a consistent “sleeping ritual”.
