Adolescent Substance Abuse Articles
Alcohol consumption may lead to restless sleep for women
By Staff Writer
Though many believe that consuming alcohol before bed can help them fall asleep faster, the results of a recent study on alcoholism may prove otherwise. Researchers have found that intoxication may actually cause sleep disruption in healthy women.
The results of the study, which examined the effects gender and alcohol addiction in families on sleep, are set to be published in an upcoming issue of Alcoholism: Clinical & Experimental Research.
For the study, researchers from the University of Michigan recruited 59 women and 34 men in their twenties, who were healthy, but had a family history of alcohol addiction. These participants consumed either a placebo beverage or alcohol until they became intoxicated. Their sleep was then monitored between 11:00 pm and 7:00 am. They were also asked to fill out a questionnaire before and after they had gone to sleep.
Based on the participants' questionnaires, more women reported disrupted sleep than men. It was also found that a high dose of alcohol leads to deeper sleep in the first half of the night but causes more disruption later on.
As the women reported more trouble sleeping than the male participants, the researchers feel that theses responses may be the result of differences in alcohol metabolism between the genders.
