The ‘fasten seat belt’ sign is off, and the time for a nap on your flight is on. You grab your neck pillow, eye mask and a glass of wine to make sure you are well-rested on the other side. But that tactic isn’t such a good idea, according to new research.
Know the news with the 7NEWS app: Download today Airplane cabins are pressurised to maintain the equivalent of 2,438 metres of elevation, meaning the air pressure and oxygen levels are lower than what most people experience on Earth. Combine that with alcohol consumption and sleep, and it’s more likely a person will experience an intensified drop in oxygen saturation in their blood, according to a study published on Monday in the journal Thorax. “Please don’t drink alcohol on board of airplanes,” lead study author Dr Eva-Maria Elmenhorst said in an email.
Elmenhorst is the deputy of the department of sleep and human factors, and leader of the Working Group on Performance and Sleep, at the DLR Institute of Aerospace Medicine in Cologne, Germany. To investigate, researchers created an atmospheric environment similar to an airplane cabin in flight. Over two nights, 48 healthy adults slept for four hours in two different environments — once without alcohol and once after drinking the equivalent of two glasses of wine or cans of beer, according to the study.
On the nights with alcohol, researchers saw a lowered amount of oxygen and an increased heart rate, the study showed. “The combination of alcohol intake wit.
