According to a new study, consuming alcohol in conditions of low air pressure could negatively impact blood oxygen levels and heart rates.
With these findings, experts are warning against drinking alcohol during flights.
Why You Shouldn't Drink Alcohol During Flights
Various lab experiments revealed that when people sleep after drinking alcohol at low air pressure conditions, which can typically be experienced during flights, levels of blood oxygen drop dangerously low, and heart rates go up, even among the young and healthy.
Dr. Eva-Maria Elmenhorst, a co-author of the study and deputy of the Department of Sleep and Human Factors Research at the Institute of Aerospace Medicine in the German Aerospace Center, explained that the survey should give flight passengers who like drinking during flights pause.
Even without alcohol consumption, the body may already find commercial flying taxing. Dry cabin air could lead to dehydration. Moreover, staying immobile for hours in cramped seats could sometimes lead to leg blood clots.
At cruising altitudes, cabin pressure may be set to what could be experienced between 6,000 and 8,000 feet above sea level, which could be a factor in low blood oxygen saturation.
With air pressure decreasing, oxygen amounts that a person inhales also decline.
While the scientists expected that drinking alcohol in low air pressure conditions would affect people, they were surprised by the gravity and strength of such effects. Dr. Elmenhorst urged passengers not to drink alcohol while onboard a plane.
Though healthy and young people may not see grave heart harm from alcohol consumption when flying, others may see lower oxygen saturation and a higher heart rate. These could end up exacerbating existing medical conditions.
Dr. Elmenhorst explained that oxygen levels were quite low during sleep.
Findings were documented in the "Effects of moderate alcohol consumption and hypobaric hypoxia: implications for passengers' sleep, oxygen saturation and heart rate on long-haul flights" study.
Drinking Alcohol in Low Air Pressure Conditions
The study covered 48 healthy adults aged 18 to 40. These participants were randomly assigned to two different groups.
Half of them were to sleep in a lab with sea-level air pressure conditions. The other half had to sleep in an altitude chamber that mirrored airplane air pressure at cruising altitude.
Twelve people in each group spent four hours sleeping. This was after they drank two beer cans or two wine glasses. As for the other 12, they slept without taking in any alcohol.
After a two-day break, the procedure was reversed. Those who previously took alcohol before they slept then slept without it, and vice versa.
The researchers then observed that those who drank alcohol before sleeping in the altitude chamber had an average blood oxygen saturation drop of 85%. Their heart rates were also observed to rise to compensate for the oxygen level decline, an average of almost 88 beats per minute.
This is compared to a drop in blood oxygen saturation equivalent to 95% and a higher heart rate of 77 beats per minute among those who took alcohol at sea level before sleeping.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, it is normal to have a 95% to 100% oxygen saturation for healthy children and adults. When an oxygen saturation drop below 90% is observed, this could be worrisome.
For someone who has a heart condition, a mix of the impacts observed in the study could lead to negative cardiovascular outcomes, such as blood clot formation, heart attacks, or even strokes.
The study is crucial, considering the number of people who take international flights.
Mariann Piano, a nursing professor and researcher who has examined how alcohol affects heart health at Vanderbilt University Medical Center, explained that the oxygen saturation drop was particularly concerning. This would be notably worrisome among individuals with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, who have lower oxygen saturation levels at their baseline.
Though individuals who are young and healthy may not see serious risks, the study urges individuals with cardiorespiratory conditions to avoid drinking when flying. For those without any underlying health issues, they should still be conservative.
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