Do you usually drink a glass of wine, a glass of champagne or a beer during your plane trips? This might not be a very good idea. Thanks to a recent study of 48 people published in the journal Thorax, researchers found that drinking alcohol on board an airplane could have deadly consequences.
Indeed, alcohol combined with the pressure of the plane can impact passengers’ hearts. Precisely, it could reduce oxygen in the blood and increase heart rate. “Consumption of alcohol on board is an underestimated health risk that could easily be avoided. It may be beneficial to consider changing regulations to restrict access to alcoholic beverages on board aircraft.s”, recommend academics from Germany’s Institute of Aerospace Medicine in comments reported by The Sun.
Low oxygen levels in the blood
Researchers point out that cardiac arrests are the cause of 58% of all plane diversions. To reach these conclusions, researchers monitored the heart rate, blood oxygen levels and sleep of a small group of people. The combination of alcohol and low oxygen concentration at high altitude reduced sleep quality and led to a prolonged duration of low blood oxygen levels.
“Together, these findings indicate that even in young, healthy individuals, the combination of alcohol consumption and sleeping in hypobaric conditions places considerable strain on the cardiac system and could lead to exacerbation of symptoms in patients. with heart or lung problems“, warn the authors. According to them, passengers suffering from sleep apnea and breathing problems should refrain from drinking for 12 hours before and during the flight.
