Health
Drinking alcohol before sleeping on a plane could be dangerous, study suggests
Travelers may want to think twice before having a glass of wine on a flight and then grabbing some shuteye.
A new study published in Thorax, a monthly peer-reviewed publication by the British Medical Journal (BMJ), found that consuming alcohol and then falling asleep on a plane could lead to a drop in blood oxygen levels and a spike in heart rate.
The air in the cabin of a plane already has less oxygen than the air we typically breathe. Drinking alcohol can reduce oxygen levels even further — as does sleep, according to experts.
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In the study, which was led by the Department of Sleep and Human Factors Research at the German Aerospace Center, one group of healthy adults slept for two nights in a sleep laboratory.
Another group slept for the same amount of time in a hypobaric (reduced oxygen) altitude chamber that mimicked an airplane.
Consuming alcohol and then falling asleep on a plane could lead to a drop in blood oxygen levels and a spike in heart rate, a new study has noted. (iStock)
Before one of the nights, the participants consumed alcohol. The German researchers found that the people in the hypobaric chamber experienced a drop in blood oxygen, higher heart rates and a lower quality of sleep after drinking alcohol.
“[Airplane] passengers with cardiopulmonary diseases have an increased risk of aggravation of symptoms due to the decreased cabin pressure at cruising altitude, which is amplified during sleep,” the researchers wrote.
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“Alcohol, which is often consumed on board, has similar effects, but hypobaric hypoxia-induced changes are usually more pronounced.”
This was the first study to evaluate the combined impact of hypobaric hypoxia (low oxygen concentration at high altitudes) and alcohol during sleep, according to the researchers.
“The study showed that the ability to compensate for cabin oxygen pressure lowering in flight is worsened both by sleep and by alcohol,” a doctor told Fox News Digital. (iStock)
Dr. Marc Siegel, clinical professor of medicine at NYU Langone Medical Center and a Fox News medical contributor, was not involved in the study but called it “well-executed,” although he noted that it was on the small side, with fewer than 50 people.
“The study showed that the ability to compensate for cabin oxygen pressure lowering in flight is worsened both by sleep and by alcohol,” Siegel told Fox News Digital.
“Because of the alcohol and most likely your sleep position, you don’t get restful sleep or go through all the stages of sleep, which causes additional stress on your heart.”
“Those [factors] are synergistic with each other, leading to increased heart rate and likely increased heart pressure and risks, even in young, healthy individuals.”
The findings highlight the need to stay well-hydrated, the doctor noted, as alcohol is a diuretic and airflight is already somewhat dehydrating due to the dry cabin air.
“Be aware that although restive sleep on long flights makes sense, it may interfere with REM sleep and quality of sleep — and may affect oxygen pressure to the point where it is below 90%,” Siegel warned.
Alcohol is a diuretic and airflight is already somewhat dehydrating due to the dry cabin air, the researchers said. (iStock)
Dr. David Campbell, clinical and program director of Recover Together in Bend, Oregon, who was also not involved in the study, said it supports the findings that alcohol consumption and sleep combined with the pressurized environments found on airplanes reduces oxygen levels and increases heart rate.
“Sleep deprivation has been closely associated with increases in irritability, agitation and brain fog, as well as escalations of anxiety, depression and challenges with mood regulation and memory — things most people would typically like to avoid on their next family vacation or business trip,” he told Fox News Digital.
“I would caution those with obstructive sleep apnea, COPD or obesity from consuming alcohol pre-flight or in-flight.”
While Campbell echoed Siegel’s comment that the study is small in scale, he said the findings should be investigated further to gauge the physiological and psychological impact.
“Despite the need for further research and a larger sample size, I would caution those with obstructive sleep apnea, COPD or obesity against consuming alcohol pre-flight or in-flight, to avoid co-consumption of alcohol and other sleep aids or medicines, and to limit blue light to improve sleep quality and mood when traveling,” he advised.
Alcohol alternatives on planes
Dr. Adam Scioli, chief medical officer at Caron Treatment Centers in Pennsylvania, noted that most people drink alcohol when flying to fall asleep or to manage their stress, which itself increases the risk of a cardiovascular event.
“You’ve got a situation where because of the alcohol and most likely your sleep position, you don’t get restful sleep or go through all the stages of sleep, which causes additional stress on your heart and cardiovascular system,” said a chief medical officer. (iStock)
“Now you’ve got a situation where because of the alcohol and most likely your sleep position, you don’t get restful sleep or go through all the stages of sleep, which causes additional stress on your heart and cardiovascular system,” Scioli, who was not involved in the study, told Fox News Digital.
“This can be exacerbated by the fact that many people don’t drink enough water before they fly, which causes dehydration — again increasing the likelihood of negative impact on their heart.”
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There are other, more effective ways to manage stress and reduce anxiety than drinking, according to Scioli.
Some of those include breathing, mindfulness and reading a book.
An expert recommended other ways to manage stress and reduce anxiety, such as breathing, mindfulness and reading a book. (iStock)
“Finally, to avoid cardiovascular events due to hypobaric hypoxia, drink plenty of water, eat a healthy meal and plan to manage stress during take off and landing,” Scioli advised.
“Know your heart health and take necessary precautions,” he said. “Avoid alcohol, cannabis and other drugs that can add stress to your cardiovascular system.”
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Anyone who has a true panic disorder or fear of flying should talk to a medical professional about medications that can be useful.
Fox News Digital reached out to the researchers requesting further comment.
FDA fast-tracks pancreatic cancer drug daraxonrasib
Family and emergency medicine physician Dr. Janette Nesheiwat discusses how artificial intelligence could help detect pancreatic cancer earlier and the FDA fast-tracking the drug daraxonrasib on ‘Fox Report.’
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A new drug for pancreatic cancer is showing promise in early testing.
Daraxonrasib is a daily pill designed to block cancer signals linked to the RAS gene. It has now finished an early-stage clinical trial — the first time it was tested in people — to evaluate both its safety and effectiveness.
The clinical trial, led by the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and published in The New England Journal of Medicine, tested the drug in 168 patients with advanced pancreatic cancer whose tumors had mutations in the RAS gene. All study participants had previously received at least one chemotherapy treatment.
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The drug is designed to block multiple active cancer signals that help tumor cells grow. This is especially important because more than 90% of pancreatic cancers carry these harmful mutations, researchers said.
Existing and older drugs that target RAS mutations only work on certain types that are uncommon in pancreatic cancer, such as KRAS mutations.
Daraxonrasib is a daily pill designed to block cancer signals linked to the RAS gene. It has now finished an early-stage clinical trial to evaluate its safety and effectiveness. (iStock)
At the 300-milligram dose — the amount that will be used in larger phase 3 trials — about 30% of patients saw a positive response, researchers noted. Overall, about 90% of patients had their cancer either shrink or stop getting worse.
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There were some side effects reported — most commonly rash, mouth inflammation, nausea and diarrhea.
Lead investigator Dr. Brian Wolpin, director of the Hale Family Center for Pancreatic Cancer Research at Dana-Farber, commented in a press release statement that this development could change the future of cancer care.
About 90% of patients treated with the drug experienced disease control, meaning their cancer was reduced or stabilized. (iStock)
“If supported by data from future clinical trials, daraxonrasib would be a targeted therapy relevant to nearly all patients with advanced pancreatic cancer,” he said.
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“This trial provides the first published data showing the safety and broad activity of a RAS(ON) multi-selective inhibitor in pancreatic cancer,” Wolpin went on. “If it proves effective in larger clinical trials, it would signify a substantial shift in how this disease is treated.”
In an interview with Fox News Digital, the researcher claimed that daraxonrasib represents “one of the most promising therapy advances we’ve seen in pancreatic cancer.”
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This is especially significant since pancreatic cancer has had “very few effective therapies” in the past, Wolpin noted.
“The study also showed disease control in approximately 90% of patients with metastatic pancreatic cancer, which is extremely exciting,” he added.
The study does not prove daraxonrasib is superior to standard treatment of chemotherapy, researchers noted. (iStock)
Wolpin noted that while side effects were common, most patients were able to tolerate treatment with “supportive care measures, and very few patients needed to stop therapy due to side effects.”
As this was a phase 1/2 study, it does not “definitively prove” the superiority of daraxonrasib compared to chemotherapy, Wolpin added.
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“The study did not include a randomized control arm that directly compared daraxonrasib with chemotherapy,” he said. “That being said, the results for daraxonrasib looked substantially better than what we have seen in prior clinical trials of chemotherapy in patients with previously treated metastatic pancreatic cancer.”
It also remains unclear how the drug may perform earlier in the disease, as the trial included patients who had already received prior treatments.
“Additional research is needed to determine how best to sequence or combine therapies to provide the most durable responses and cures,” the lead investigaror sid. (iStock)
For patients and families affected by pancreatic cancer, Wolpin noted that daraxonrasib signals “real momentum” toward effective treatments, but it is still investigational and is not a cure.
“Pancreatic cancer remains a challenging disease, and additional research is needed to determine how best to sequence or combine therapies to provide the most durable responses and cures,” he said.
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Brian Slomovitz, director of gynecologic oncology and co-chair of the Cancer Research Committee at Mount Sinai Medical Center in Miami Beach, applauded this development in a separate interview with Fox News Digital.
“We are anxiously awaiting the upcoming plenary presentation of RASolute 302 at the ASCO meeting later this month,” said the expert, who was not involved in the study. “Greater than 90% of pancreatic cancers have activation of kRAS, which is a major factor in the development and progression of these cancers.”
“Doubling the survival time in pretreated patients is unprecedented.”
“If the full dataset results that will be reported later this month confirm what was earlier released, I believe this will be one of the most important breakthroughs in all solid tumors,” Slomovitz went on. “Doubling the survival time in pretreated patients is unprecedented.”
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The doctor added that the “magnitude of benefit” could “reshape the treatment landscape” and “establish a new standard of care.”
“We will need to evaluate the full dataset for efficacy and safety,” Slomovitz added. “I am more than cautiously optimistic, and I am truly excited for our patients and their families that suffer from this dreadful disease.”
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People who regularly visit museums or participate in creative activities may be aging more slowly on a biological level, according to a new study from the United Kingdom.
Researchers from University College London analyzed data from more than 3,500 adults and found that people who frequently engaged in arts and cultural activities showed signs of slower biological aging in several DNA-based measurements.
The findings were published in the journal Innovation in Aging.
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The study examined activities including painting, photography, dancing, singing, visiting museums and attending cultural events or historic sites.
People who frequently visit museums or engage in artistic activities may experience slower biological aging. (iStock)
Researchers compared participation in those activities with “epigenetic clocks,” scientific tools that examine chemical changes in DNA over time.
Adults who participated more often, and in a wider variety of activities, tended to show slower aging scores compared to people who rarely engaged in arts or cultural experiences.
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The association appeared even stronger among adults over age 40.
Researchers also noted that the effect sizes were comparable to those linked to physical activity, one of the most widely studied behaviors associated with healthy aging.
The study found that adults who engaged more often in arts and cultural activities showed slower biological aging. (iStock)
Jessica Mack, a health and wellness expert and founder of The Functional Consulting Group who was not involved in the study, said the findings reflect a growing understanding that health is influenced by more than exercise and nutrition alone.
“Arts and cultural engagement may be associated with slower epigenetic aging, with effects comparable in some measures to physical activity,” Mack told Fox News Digital.
She said activities such as visiting museums and engaging with music or art may help reduce stress, improve emotional regulation and increase social connection.
Experts say these activities may reduce stress, improve emotional regulation, and strengthen social connections. (iStock)
“These are not ‘extra’ lifestyle activities,” Mack said. “They may be deeply connected to how the body manages inflammation, stress hormones, mood and overall resilience.”
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Mack added that people experiencing stress, social isolation, retirement or caregiving responsibilities may especially benefit from meaningful cultural engagement.
Experts cautioned, however, that the study does not prove arts engagement directly slows aging.
“This is an observational study, not an experiment,” Professor Steve Horvath of UCLA, a longevity researcher and pioneer in epigenetic aging research who was not involved in the study, told Fox News Digital.
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“So when researchers find that the people who go to museums have younger epigenetic age, we cannot tell whether the museum visits slowed their aging, or whether their slower aging is what allowed them to keep visiting museums,” he said.
While the findings suggest a link, experts caution that the study cannot prove arts and cultural activities directly slow aging. (iStock)
Horvath said both explanations may be true to some degree, though he described the research as “methodologically careful” and worthy of further study.
The findings remained consistent even after accounting for factors such as smoking, income, body weight and other lifestyle habits.
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He added that regardless of whether arts engagement is directly slowing biological aging, staying socially and mentally active is still associated with healthier aging overall.
“The prescription is the same,” he said. “Keep going.”
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Fitness influencer and trainer Mark Langowski, known on social media as @bodybymark, hosted a pushup and plank competition in New York City this week, where he urged the public to get up and get moving.
On his platform of nearly two million Instagram followers, Langowski asks fit people to share their workout routines. He was able to meet more in-shape New Yorkers at his Washington Square Park meet-up, in partnership with Oikos yogurt on May 12.
A male and a female winner who achieved the most pushups or held a plank the longest were gifted $500 each.
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Besides the cash prize, the inspiration was to get more people moving, Langowski shared during an interview with Fox News Digital.
Fitness influencer and trainer Mark Langowski, known on social media as @bodybymark, hosted a pushup and plank competition in New York City this week, where he urged the public to get up and get moving. (Kelly McGreal/Fox News Digital)
“[It’s] a way to encourage strength and overall fitness in New York City and all around the country,” he said.
“We got together and we’re doing a plank competition, pushup competition. We had a guy just do 111 pushups. We’re just getting people moving.”
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Langowski said the attributes of a great competitor include strength, humility and confidence.
“The people who … did the most, they didn’t say they were going to do the most,” he said. “And there were other people who said they could do 150, and they did 70.”
Having a bit of humility helps make a good competitor, the trainer added.
@BodybyMark films the pushup competition’s male winner during a meet-up in Washington Square Park in New York City on May 12, 2026. (Kelly McGreal/Fox News Digital)
Pushups and planks mark a “good general baseline” for measuring fitness level, according to Langowski. Some other basics include pull-ups, squats and endurance challenges, like running a mile — the kind of basics included in an elementary school fitness assessment.
For those who haven’t yet mastered these basics but want to get in better shape, Langowski shared some advice on how to get started.
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“Get with a trainer or someone who knows how to progress you,” he advised. “A lot of people are like, ‘I can’t do a pushup, so I’m never going to do one.’ That’s not the way.”
Langowski recommends starting with pushups on your knees or against a wall, then gradually progressing to standard pushups by moving onto your toes and lowering yourself fully to the ground before pushing back up.
The trainer recommends starting with pushups on your knees or against a wall, then gradually progressing to standard pushups by moving onto your toes and lowering yourself fully to the ground before pushing back up. (Milan Markovic/iStock)
“You’ll be surprised after you do that for a couple weeks, a couple months, a couple years – you’re going to be able to do a lot,” he said. “Nobody was born being able to do 111 pushups. They put in the work and they started somewhere.”
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The trainer noted that in addition to practicing, it’s just as important to give the body rest and to support muscle growth with proper protein intake and an overall healthy diet.
But perhaps the most crucial step toward getting in shape, according to Langowski, is having the motivation to get started
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“I know that’s easy for me to say – I’ve been in fitness and been relatively fit most of my life,” he said. “And I know a lot of people are sitting on the couch and they either feel sorry for themselves or they’re going through a tough time … You’ve just got to get out there.”
The trainer noted that in addition to practicing, it’s just as important to give the body rest and to support muscle growth with proper protein intake and an overall healthy diet. (iStock)
The trainer suggested starting with a simple walk — even just around the block — with no gym equipment required.
“You don’t need an expensive gym membership to get in good shape,” he said. “Most of the people that I stop on the street, they don’t have a gym membership at all. They do it in their living room.”
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“And that’s where you can do the exercises I mentioned – the squats, the lunges, the pushups,” Langowski went on.
“So, I would encourage people just to start, but also to get some friends or get a trainer, someone to support you and do it safely.”
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