Sleep
Alcohol has long been used as a soporific, but in reality, it’s not very good for sleeping through the night. While it may help you fall asleep faster, a new study finds, it’s also likely to cause disruption of restorative sleep during the night, as evidenced by changes in brain waves. “The take-home message here is that alcohol is not actually a particularly good sleep aid even though it may seem like it helps you get to sleep quicker,” said Christian L. Nichols, in a news release. “In fact, the quality of the sleep you get is significantly altered and disrupted,” which can lead to significant problems with cognition during waking hours. Another new study found that poor sleep in teens can be a precursor of problematic alcohol use (and other risky behaviors) years down the road, in a kind of vicious cycle.