Drinking alcohol before a flight then falling asleep in the air could KILL you, heart doctors warn passengers
- Research shows that alcohol reduces oxygen and increases the heart rate of flying travelers
- The effect increases as more alcohol is consumed, especially in older passengers
- Heart changes were observed in young and healthy passengers who slept during a flight
There’s nothing like that first glass of wine or pint of beer to get you in the holiday spirit at the airport.
It’s not all happy news, however, as consuming alcohol before falling asleep on a plane puts such strain on the heart that it can be fatal.
Researchers found that this combination lowers the amount of oxygen in travelers’ blood and increases heart rate, even in people who are young and healthy.
The greater the amount drunk, the greater these effects could be, especially among older passengers and those with medical conditions, they warned.
The academics suggested it may be time to consider restricting access to alcohol on board, especially on long-haul flights.
Researchers found that alcohol consumed by sleeping airline passengers reduces the amount of oxygen in their blood and increases heart rate, even in those who are young and healthy
The greater the amount consumed, the greater these effects can be, especially among older passengers and those with medical conditions
Dr. Eva-Maria Elmenhorst from the German Aerospace Center in Cologne said: ‘The situation may be different for passengers with pre-existing medical conditions.
‘Their oxygen saturation may be low at first and then drop to even lower levels. Medical conditions can therefore worsen, leading to medical emergencies during the flight.
‘I would advise people with heart or lung conditions not to drink alcohol on planes.’
For their study they recruited 48 people between the ages of 18 and 40. Half slept in a laboratory with normal air pressure and the others in an altitude chamber that simulated the cabin pressure of an airplane at cruising altitude.
The groups then slept for four hours, with half of each group drinking no alcohol, while the others drank the equivalent of two cans of beer or two glasses of wine.
Those who slept without alcohol under normal conditions had a stable blood oxygen level of about 96 percent and a sleeping heart rate of 64 beats per minute (bpm).
But those who drank and were in the altitude chamber had a drop in blood oxygen levels to an average of 85 percent and their heart rate typically increased to almost 88 beats per minute during sleep.
This compared to an average blood oxygen level of 88 percent and a sleeping heart rate of 73 beats per minute for those in the altitude chamber who did not drink alcohol.
The participants slept lying down, so the findings may differ for those flying economy, according to a report in the journal Thorax from the team at the Institute of Aerospace Medicine in Cologne, Germany.
Academics have suggested it may be time to consider restricting access to alcohol on board, especially on long-haul flights
They concluded: ‘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 symptoms in patients with cardiac problems . or lung diseases.’
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.’