Disorders May Disrupt Sleep

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" GERD and Other GI Disorders May Disrupt Sleep "

(ImmuneSupport.com)

Two studies measure impact of sleep disturbances.

SEATTLE --The results of two recent studies to be presented at the

67th Annual Scientific Meeting of the American College of

Gastroenterology suggest that people with GERD (gastroesophageal

reflux disease) and other gastrointestinal disorders are more likely

than others to report excessive daytime sleepiness, insomnia, and

poor sleep quality. More than 15 million Americans experience daily

heartburn symptoms and may suffer from GERD.

Excessive Daytime Sleepiness Researchers at Pennsylvania State

University (Hershey) conducted a large study using records from a

random telephone survey of 16,583 adults. From this pool, 1,741

adults who reported having risk factors for sleep-related breathing

disorders were selected for further study. After undergoing a

physical examination and providing a detailed medical history, each

subject spent a night in the sleep lab.

" Our study is different from most others in that we did not base the

analyses on subjects who were recruited because they had specific

gastrointestinal disorders. After removing this selection bias from

the equation, we can be more confident when we report that there is a

significant relationship between GERD and excessive daytime

sleepiness and insomnia, " said Geoffrey S. Raymer, M.D., of the

Gastroenterology and Hepatology Department at Penn State. " We also

found a connection between peptic ulcer disease and hiatal hernia and

insomnia. "

The 1,741 adults selected for this study also were the subject of a

recent analysis of insomnia and physical and mental health problems.

The results were published by the Penn State researchers in the July

2002 issue of the Journal of Psychosomatic Research 53(1):589-592.

Objective Measures of Sleep vs. Complaints C. Orr, Ph.D., and

J. of the Lynn Health Science Institute in Oklahoma

City compared data from 20 GERD patients with results from their

database of healthy individuals. All the GERD patients reported

having heartburn at least four days per week and having woken up with

heartburn at least one night a week. The participants completed the

Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index exam and underwent a baseline

esophageal monitoring evaluation for 24 hours. In the sleep lab, they

also underwent full polysomnography (comprehensive and continuous

monitoring of physiology during sleep), which evaluated the number of

minutes required to fall asleep, the number of arousals from sleep,

sleep efficiency, and the proportion of time spent in various stages

of sleep.

People with GERD reported having much worse sleep quality than did

healthy adults. The difference between the two groups for this

subjective measure was statistically significant (P<0.05.) Among

people with GERD, higher levels of reflux during the day are

associated with more complaints about sleep.

" There is very little data in the literature that compare objective

and subjective sleep measures among people with GERD, " said Dr.

Orr. " Although our study establishes that there is a difference

between GERD patients and healthy adults for subjective measures of

sleep quality, our findings indicate that the objective measures were

not appreciably different between the two groups. "

Contact: Emick, email: memick@..., American

College of Gastroenterology

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