Morning sympathetic activity after evening binge alcohol consumption
Ian M. Greenlund, Hannah A. Cunningham, Anne Tikkanen, Jeremy A. Bigalke, Carl A. Smoot, John J. Durocher, Jason R. Carter
Abstract
Chronic binge alcohol consumption is associated with future cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk in both men and women. In addition, binge alcohol consumption is known to disrupt normal sleep quality during the early morning hours, coinciding with the morning sympathetic surge. In the present study, an evening of binge alcohol consumption increased baseline morning heart rate and cardiovascular reactivity during the Valsalva maneuver (VM) strain. Specifically, muscle sympathetic nerve activity and phase IV hemodynamic responses increased during VM the morning after binge alcohol consumption. The autonomic dysfunction and increased cardiovascular reactivity during VM suggests a contributing mechanism to CVD risk present in individuals who binge drink.