Lastly, the same viewer points out that “Studies have shown that one or two glasses of red wine with the evening meal correlates with a decreased risk of heart disease; by swearing off alcohol in the evening, are people with OSA trading one problem for another?”
Although one of the three above-listed references might provide information pertinent to this point, I suspect that a glass or two of wine would not have a persistent enough effect to exacerbate sleep during the later stages when apneic events are most prevalent. The problem, of course, is with people who cannot limit themselves to this amount of alcohol. Naturally one would think of alcoholics, but I would also think of anyone who is suffering from insomnia—as may occur in sleep apnea—or fatigue which makes them incapable of meeting their daily obligations, as being at special risk for turning to intoxicants for relief of physical and emotional symptoms, under which circumstances I would fear for the temptation to use excessive amounts, especially when the self-administered “treatment“ (ie, alcohol) actually has countertherapeutic effects. Then, of course, it is quite another question how alcohol would interact with sleep apnea in patients under treatment with CPAP. Here I suspect that the muscle relaxant effects of the alcohol would increase the pressure needs of the individual and therefore render the set pressure less effective.