BOOZE KEEPS YOU UP

Up nights and binge drinking

From the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, I’m Ira Dreyfuss with HHS HealthBeat.

A study indicates older frequent binge drinkers are more likely to have sleep problems. At the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Sarah Canham looked at data on almost 5,000 people ages 55 and above:

“Frequent binge drinking – on an average of more than two days per week – is associated with increased odds of reporting at least one insomnia symptom.”

These include difficulty falling or staying asleep, waking too early, or feeling unrested in the morning.

Canham says she can’t tell from her study if binge drinking caused insomnia. She says older alcoholics might have sleep problems, or some people with sleep problems might self-medicate with alcohol.

The study presented at a meeting of the Associated Professional Sleep Societies was supported by the National Institutes of Health.

Learn more at healthfinder.gov.

HHS HealthBeat is a production of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. I’m Ira Dreyfuss.