Why alcohol interferes with sleep

This can greatly increase the risk of sleep apnea especially if you drink within the last couple of hours before bedtime. Vensel Rundo says. With extended use of alcohol over time, there can be long-term concerns, too. Many who abuse alcohol often do it well into the night and oversleep into the next day. In time this may lead to switching up day and night sleeping patterns. Simply cutting back or giving up alcohol or other drugs can be enough to reverse the negative impacts on your sleep and can greatly improve your health overall.

Think again. Learn more about vaccine availability. Advertising Policy. Drinking alcohol before bed can also worsen sleep apnea. Sleep apnea is a common disorder where the airway collapses or becomes blocked during sleep.

Because alcohol is a muscle relaxer, it can make this problem even worse. The key is to drink in moderation and give yourself time before going to bed so the alcohol can clear your system. To learn more about treatment for sleep disorders, visit Piedmont Sleep Services. Need to make an appointment with a Piedmont physician?

Save time, book online. Close X. Finnish researchers found in a study that alcohol had significant effects on sleep quality, regardless of whether consumption was light, moderate, or heavy. The study also showed that alcohol affected men, women, and both active and sedentary individuals similarly. Perhaps surprisingly, it found that alcohol affected the sleep of younger people more than it did older adults.

So with all of this information, does that mean you should give up drinking for good to preserve quality sleep? When a person is diagnosed with sleep apnea, it means that they have short and frequent breathing cessations during the night.

These cessations force the body to partially rouse itself over and over again in order to restore proper breathing, preventing sufferers from getting the deep, restful sleep they need. The most common type of sleep apnea is obstructive sleep apnea OSA , and it occurs when the tissues in the mouth and throat relax and block the airway during sleep.