Travelers, beware! Drinking on long-haul flights could threaten the heart health of sleeping passengers, research warns
Nothing puts you in the holiday spirit like that first glass of wine or pint of beer at the airport.
But travelers should be careful because the combination of alcohol and cabin pressure could threaten the heart health of sleeping airline passengers, the first study of its kind suggests.
Researchers have found that the duo lowers the amount of oxygen in people’s blood (SpO2) and increases heart rate for a long time, even in people who are young and healthy.
The higher the alcohol consumption, the greater these effects could be, especially among older passengers and people with existing medical conditions, they warned.
And they suggested that now could be time to consider restricting access to alcohol on board, especially on long-haul flights.
A team from the Institute of Aerospace Medicine in Cologne, Germany, recruited 48 people between the ages of 18 and 40 for their study.
Researchers have found that the duo lowers the amount of oxygen in people’s blood and increases heart rate, even in young and healthy people
The participants were divided into two groups: half slept in a laboratory under normal air pressure conditions, while the rest slept in an altitude chamber that simulated cabin pressure during an airplane’s cruising altitude.
In each group, half then slept for four hours without drinking alcohol, while the others slept for four hours after drinking the equivalent of two cans of beer or two glasses of wine in straight vodka.
For those who slept under normal pressure and had not consumed alcohol, their blood oxygen levels remained stable at about 96 percent with a sleeping heart rate of 64 beats per minute.
However, analysis showed that those who had drunk alcohol and were in the altitude chamber recorded a drop in blood oxygen levels, up to an average of 85 percent.
Meanwhile, their heart rates increased during sleep to an average of almost 88 bmp.
This compared with an average blood oxygen level of 88 percent and a sleeping heart rate of 73 beats per minute among those in the altitude chamber who had not consumed alcohol.
The researchers wrote in the journal Thorax: ‘Together, these results indicate that, even in young and healthy individuals, the combination of alcohol ingestion with sleeping under hypobaric conditions (cabin pressure) places significant strain on the cardiac system and could lead to worsening of the symptoms in patients with heart or lung disease.’
These effects could be even greater in older people, they suggest, adding: ‘Cardiovascular symptoms occur in 7 percent of inflight medical emergencies, with cardiac arrest causing 58 percent of aircraft diversions.’
They concluded: ‘Practitioners, passengers and crew should be informed of the potential risks, and it may be useful to consider changing regulations to restrict access to alcoholic drinks on board aircraft.’
The team said the study participants slept lying down – a luxury typically only afforded to those flying first class – so the findings may be different for the bulk of airline passengers flying economy.