Drinking alcohol on a plane may be more dangerous than you think.

long-haul flights For many they can become a real odyssey. Not only that, but once you arrive at your destination there is usually a difference of several hours, so if you are not properly rested on the plane, jet lag may hit even harder. That’s why we usually try to sleep as much as possible. Unfortunately, the conditions for falling asleep are not the best, so there are those who look for help in the alcohol cart. This is actually counterproductive, since the idea that alcohol helps you sleep is nothing more than a myth. But that’s not the worst thing. According to a recently published study, drink alcohol on a plane before bed it can be very dangerous.

This study was carried out by a group of scientists from Institute of Aerospace Medicine of the German Aerospace Center and RWTH Aachen University. To do this, they proceeded from the fact that cabin pressure on long-haul flights reduces oxygen saturation in the blood, so alcohol on the plane will only worsen the situation.

To verify this, they simulated the aircraft in their laboratory and conducted several experiments in collaboration with 48 volunteers. The results, as expected, showed that some rules regarding alcohol consumption on airplanes will have to change.

Cabin pressure problems

During long-haul flights, planes fly at high altitudes because this avoids many of the disturbances that can hamper their movement. In some cases they can even reach more than 12,000 meters. This is good for the plane, but not so much for passengers.

When people rise to higher altitudes, the concentration of oxygen in the air remains the same. This doesn’t change. However, atmospheric pressure actually decreases. Roughly speaking, this is because there is a smaller column of air pressing above our heads. The pressure of a mixture of gases, for example air, is the sum of the partial pressures of the gases included in its composition. Therefore, if the overall pressure decreases, the pressure of each of its components will also decrease. In the case of air, as it rises, the oxygen pressure decreases. This means that there are fewer molecules for the same volume of air. So when we breathe at high altitude, less oxygen in our lungs.

The maximum that humans can suddenly withstand without affecting our health is a pressure equivalent to about 2400 meters in height. This is much less than what is achieved on long-haul flights. For this reason, the cabins are pressurized, simulating the pressure that exists at an altitude of 2400 meters. You can’t increase the pressure as much as if we were at sea level, but it’s acceptable to keep everything working correctly.

At this pressure our oxygen saturation drops to approximately 90%. This is a significant figure, although usually, if we are healthy, it ranges from 95% to 100%. However, if we fall below this 90%, the situation may become more dangerous. Drinking alcohol on a plane or anywhere else can affect your oxygen saturation. So these scientists wanted to see how harmful it was.

Risks of drinking alcohol on a plane

Previous studies have shown that drinking alcohol can increase your heart rate, especially during sleep. When oxygen saturation decreases, heart rate It also increases as the heart works faster to try to compensate for the lack of oxygen reaching the tissues.

What would happen if both were added when drinking alcohol on a plane? To answer this question, 48 study participants were divided into two groups: control and flight group. Participants in the control group had to sleep in a laboratory with normal pressure and oxygen. Instead, members of the flight team slept in a pressurized room similar to the cabin of a long-haul airliner. The sounds recorded during the flight from Cologne to Cairo were even played back to add more realism.

Half of each group slept four hours without drinking alcohol, while the other half slept the same amount of time but after drinking a certain amount of alcohol. vodka equivalent to two cans of 5% beer. After two nights of recovery, the experiment was repeated, changing the situation. That is, those who drank slept without alcohol, and those who did not drink anything had to sleep after a portion of vodka.

Thus, among those who imitated drinking alcohol on a plane, oxygen saturation dropped to approximately 85%. As for the heart rate, the average was 87.73 beats per minute. The numbers were much better for those who slept in simulated flight conditions, but without alcohol. Oxygen saturation was 88% and heart rate averaged 72.90 beats per minute.

The numbers, of course, were much better for those who did not simulate the flight. In any case, in the case of simulating airplane travel, the constants do not become dangerous unless you drink alcohol.

Alcohol will need to be controlled on planes.

Older people or people with medical conditions that increase risk of heart problems They may experience the effects of drinking on a plane and then fall asleep. Logically, the solution is not to avoid sleep. On long flights this can be a real torture. Plus, that wouldn’t be healthy either.

Therefore, the best solution is to reduce or even eliminate the sale of alcohol on planes. long-haul flights. In fact, the ideal would be to exclude it from all flights. This is not necessary and you will gain a lot of health by avoiding it. This may be the future, but for now, more research like this is needed to encourage airlines to look into it.