Smoking and coffee intake following alcohol withdrawal in alcoholic inpatients.

The aim of this study was to assess alcoholic inpatients' smoking and coffee intake variation following withdrawal. Only moderate smokers (less than 30 cigarettes/day) showed a significant increase of cigarette consumption after alcohol withdrawal. However, their urinary cotinine level did not vary, suggesting a behavioral, and not biological, compensation through smoking following alcohol withdrawal.

[Alcohol, sleep and biological rhythms].

Alcohol reduces sleep latency but notably alters sleep structure: sleep is fragmented, particularly at the end of the night. Slow wave sleep duration is enhanced in the first part of the night and REM sleep duration and density are diminished. Alcohol withdrawal provokes inverse effects in alcoholic patients: sleep onset is delayed, slow wave sleep durations diminished and REM sleep duration is enhanced.