Alcohol has been shown to worsen sleep quality. It may help you fall asleep quicker but it certainly affects your sleep quality and reduces the amount of dream sleep or rapid eye movement sleep you get.
One of the things alcohol does is that it causes the airway to become more floppy which may then result in snoring and may worsen or precipitate sleep apnoea(which is a condition where the airway collapses and obstructs during sleep).
When your airway obstructs-and the oxygen drops- this not only stresses your body but it also causes micro or full arousals from sleep. This will frequently cause you to be more tired the following day. This is one of the reasons we ask patients with sleep apnoea to reduce their alcohol consumption.
Alcohol also numbs your reflexes including your breathing reflexes. Excessive or binge drinking is dangerous. Every year close to 2000 college students in the US die from alcohol-related incidents. Apart from accidents; alcohol poisoning or aspiration of alcohol from the stomach into the lungs are known causes of death.
