Prolonged alcoholism leads to poor quality sleep
POSTED October 5, 2009 - 12:01 | POSTED BY Jyoti Pal
Last edited by Harpreet Bhagrath on October 5, 2009 - 12:36
The pattern of poor quality sleep even after prolonged abstinence has been established in both males and females, although women had better sleep efficiency and fewer wake periods than men.
For the purpose of the study, researchers examined 84 people, 50 percent of whom were alcoholics but had quit drinking. The rest of the 42 participants had no history of alcoholism.
The former alcoholics had not taken to alcohol and had been sober for at least a month. Some of them had been sober for more than two years.
All the participants were made to sleep a night at a sleep lab, fully equipped with monitors to track brain activities.
Research’s revelations
The findings revealed that alcoholics experienced less slow-wave sleep vis-à-vis people with no history of alcoholism. Moreover, majority of the alcoholics sleep time was spent in the early stage of sleep and in the REM stage.
In long-term alcoholics who had abstained from hard drinks for up to 719 days, the percentage of slow wave sleep was significantly lower; at 6.6 percent in men and 11.1 percent in women.
On the other hand, the percentage of slow wave sleep in non alcoholics was higher at 12.0 percent in men, 12.1 percent in women. Furthermore, alcoholics also had more stage 1 non-rapid eye movement (NREM) sleep when compared with the stage 1 NREM sleep of the control group.
The stage 1 NREM was 8.5 percent in alcoholic men and 6.3 percent in alcoholic women, whereas it was 6.2 percent and 5.6 percent in men and women respectively who were in the control group, i.e. who had no history of alcohol.
Indicator of cognitive decline
Principal investigator and lead author of the study, Dr. Ian Colrain of the University of Melbourne in Australia, expressed surprise at the findings of the study.
“Previously the REM changes in the acute detox period were assumed to be related to a rebound of the REM suppression effects of alcohol. The persistence indicates that there is some possibly permanent structural/functional change in REM regulation mechanisms produced by long-term alcohol abuse,” said Colrain.
The researchers aver that effects such as less deep, slow wave sleep and more light, stage 1 NREM sleep is indicative of poor sleep quality. This, in turn, can act as an exacerbating factor in alcoholics’ cognitive decline.
The study has been published in the Oct. 1 edition of the journal Sleep.
