Nightcap disturbs the sleep rhythm

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MunichAlcohol makes you tired and promotes falling asleep, but it does not improve the quality of sleep. On the contrary: the supposed nightcap destroys the natural sleep rhythm and can cause long-term sleep disorders, according to the results of an American research team from the University of Missouri.

Scientists have been studying the effect of alcohol on sleep for over five years. Adenosine, an endogenous messenger substance that functions as a tiredness signal, has a key function. Normally the body regulates the natural sleep-wake phases with the help of adenosine. If you are awake for a long time, the content of the messenger substance outside the cells increases and blocks cells in the brain that wake you up - people get tired. During sleep, the adenosine content slowly decreases again. The pick-me-up cells become active - the person wakes up.

Alcohol increases the drowsiness signal

To find out more about this balance, Prof. Mahesh Thakker and his colleagues carried out experiments on mice and rats. In this way she was able to show that alcohol makes you tired, but upsets the balance of sleep-wake phases.

Alcohol increases the levels of adenosine outside the cells and makes you tired. If you then go to bed earlier than usual, the balance gets mixed up. According to the scientists, sleep quality suffers due to alcohol, especially in the second half of sleep.

"In addition, alcohol is diuretic, so you urgently need to go to the toilet early in the morning," says Dr. Pradeep Sahota.

Visit the doctor instead of a nightcap

Excessive and regular alcohol consumption in particular leads to sleep disorders. If someone gets drunk, they will fall asleep quickly, but wake up again after a few hours and cannot go back to sleep. Regular alcohol consumption, such as alcoholics do, leads to sleep problems. Even during periods of abstinence, difficulty sleeping occurs.

“During a weaning phase, study subjects were particularly awake and showed signs of a disturbed sleep-wake balance,” says Thakker. "The results make it clear: alcohol should not be used as a sleep aid," said his colleague Sahota. If you cannot fall asleep, you should rather look for solutions together with your doctor instead of drinking a nightcap in the evening, the experts recommend.

Expensive sleep problems from alcohol

“We spend about a third of our lives sleeping. We really need to understand better how sleep and alcohol interact, ”says Thakker. According to the researchers, about 20 percent of Americans use alcohol to help them fall asleep better, and it harms the quality of their sleep. Alcohol-related sleep problems cost more than $ 18 billion, according to the scientists.

In Germany, a quarter of the population suffers at least occasionally and ten percent often or constantly from insomnia, according to the Munich Sleep Medicine Center. According to them, sleep disorders are substance-induced in seven to twelve percent, for example through alcohol or medication. (vv)

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