Researchers addressed the association between sleep patterns and digestive diseases, as well as patients’ genetic likeliness of developing future digestive complications.
In a population-based cohort study, healthy sleep patterns resulted in a reduced risk of developing digestive diseases, underscoring the impact sleep has on digestive health. Risk of digestive disease was also significantly more reduced for participants exhibiting healthy sleep compared with those who had poor sleep, with genetic susceptibility playing an unimportant role in patients’ digestive health.
According to the International Journal of Surgery Open, sleep complications are widespread across the general population. Digestive system diseases, on the other hand, may be less prominent but have posed a significant challenge for public health officials.1
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“A recent meta-analysis, in which more than a million people across the United States, Netherlands, and United Kingdom were involved, showed [around] 13.3% of the adult participants suffered from poor-quality sleep. Meanwhile, sleep problems are common among children and the elderly, with a prevalence rate up to 30%,” wrote authors of the study. “Digestive diseases represent a formidable public health challenge, significantly affecting the well-being of populations worldwide.”
Researchers also mentioned how genetic susceptibility can interact with lifestyle behaviors and ultimately create further health complications, which is why they included the exploration of genetic predisposition within the study parameters.
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“In this study, using a large prospective cohort from the UK Biobank, we aim to explore the association between the healthy sleep pattern, based on a combination of 5 pivotal sleep traits (sleep duration, insomnia, snoring, daytime sleepiness, and chronotype) with the risk of digestive diseases,” they continued.1
A total of 326,670 participants were included in the final analysis and healthy sleep patterns were calculated based on each participant’s “sleep score,” which was determined by their sleep behaviors. Sleep scores were calculated on a 0 to 5 scale, with 5 constituting the healthiest of sleep patterns. Furthermore, participants were excluded if they had any history of digestive diseases.
First, researchers identified each participant’s sleep score. Study participants with a sleep score of 0 or 1 represented 2.5% of the population, scores of 2 represented 11.3%, scores of 3 represented 28.1%, scores of 4 represented 36.7%, and scores of 5 represented 21.4%.1
“Healthy sleep scores showed dose-response associations with reduced risks of digestive diseases. Compared to participants scoring 0–1, those scoring 5 showed a 28% reduced risk of any digestive disease, including a 50% decrease in irritable bowel syndrome, 37% in non-alcoholic fatty liver disease, 35% in peptic ulcer, 34% in dyspepsia, 32% in gastroesophageal reflux disease, 28% in constipation, 25% in diverticulosis, 24% in severe liver disease, and 18% in gallbladder disease,” they wrote.
Further speaking on poor sleep quality’s association with digestive diseases, participants with poor sleep and high genetic predisposition experienced a 60% increase in risk of developing digestive disease. But for every individual with healthy sleep patterns, whether genetically susceptible or not, digestive disease risk was reduced.
Previous studies have highlighted the complex relationship sleep has with digestive health, showing how the 2 can easily and negatively affect each other. “There is a unique interplay between certain gastrointestinal diseases and sleep. Poor sleep has been shown to result in the exacerbation of gastrointestinal symptoms. Conversely, many gastrointestinal diseases affect the sleep-wake cycle and lead to poor sleep,” according to authors of a Gastroenterology & Hepatology study.2
Other articles have explored how sleeping and eating habits can also play a big part in the relationship. One specific behavior that may be common in poor sleepers is eating close to bedtime. “You shouldn’t eat within 3 hours of going to bed. You don’t want the body to be burdened with digestion and absorption while you’re sleeping, because that’s when your body is supposed to be recuperating and doing housekeeping tasks,” said Ryan Barish, MD, a functional lifestyle medicine physician at Henry Ford Health.3
Findings in the International Journal of Surgery Open study confirmed the immense impact poor sleep can have on patients’ digestive health. While poor sleep can create digestive health complications, the same can be said about digestive health’s impact on healthy sleep. To improve overall patient outcomes, future research will focus on improving sleep traits to, in turn, improve digestive health.
“In summary, our study provides substantial evidence supporting the association between a healthy sleep pattern and reduced risks of digestive diseases, regardless of genetic risk. Our findings hold considerable significance for public health efforts, underscoring the importance of enhancing comprehensive sleep traits in the prophylaxis and management of digestive diseases,” concluded the authors.1
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