New research shows a link between alcoholism and troubled sleep patterns. The study was published in the October 1st edition of the journal Sleep. According to Dr Ian M. Colrain, of SRI International in Menlo Park, who conducted the study, people who abuse alcohol report Insomnia and other sleep problems even after they quit drinking. Corlain stated that these changes are likely to make the problems with mental function worse that result from long-term heavy drinking.
Dr Colrain study compared 42 alcoholics who had quit drinking with 42 people with no history of alcoholism. all participants spent a night in a sleep lab where their brain activity during sleep was monitored. The alcoholics had been sober for an average of about 6 months each.
The study compared the slow-wave and REM sleep of the two groups. The alcoholics spent a significantly less time in REM, and slow-wave sleep than the non-alchololics.
Corlain goes on to say that the fact that these differences in sleep patterns persist after the subjects had quit drinking for long periods of time suggests that alcoholism may have a lasting effect on sleep.
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