Functional Dyspepsia is Associated with Sleep Disorders

Nearly 50% of American adults have symptoms of sleep disturbance, including trouble falling asleep and waking up as well as daytime drowsiness. For many people, however, these sleep disturbances are caused by gastrointestinal (GI) problems. Past studies have indeed shown that irritable bowel syndrome and acid reflux disease are commonly associated with sleep disorders.

According to a more recent study by Brian Lacy et al. of the Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center (DHMC), there is also an association between sleep disorders and functional dyspepsia. This finding was published in the journal Clinical Gastroenterology and Hepatology.

More commonly known as indigestion, dyspepsia is characterized by chronic pain in the upper abdomen, particularly after eating. Functional dyspepsia (FD), which affects around 15% of the population, is dyspepsia without any evidence of an organic cause.

This study investigated the relationship between sleep disorders and FD. Both disorders significantly affect quality of life, suggesting that each may exacerbate the other. To understand this, the researchers at the DHMC developed a questionnaire assessing the severity of FD, number of sleep disturbances, mental and physical health, and other relevant factors.

The subjects in the study were former patients at the DHMC who had been diagnosed with FD between 2003 and 2009. As a control group, the researchers also gave the questionnaire to local volunteers without any known GI disorders. Upon completion, 121 FD patient questionnaires were collected as well as 50 from the control group.

The results showed that the difference in average sleep between the experimental and control groups was not significant. FD patients reported an average of 6.31 hours of sleep each day, while the control group reported an average of 6.65 hours. FD patients, however, claimed to have trouble falling asleep more often and for longer. In addition, these problems increased with the severity of FD.

Still, FD is probably not the only contributing factor to these sleep disturbances. According to Lacy, anxiety and depression are also more common in patients with chronic diseases like FD, which can also affect sleep. In this study, patients with FD reported lower overall physical health in addition to these mental issues.

There is a significant correlation between FD and sleep disorders, but it is complex. The pain and bloating of indigestion may interfere with sleep, but disrupted sleep might also cause these increased symptoms. Sleep deprivation is known to cause increased sensitivity to pain the next day. Therefore, after a poor night of rest, FD patients may sense more pain from indigestion.

In the future, research could monitor changes in sleep with changes in the symptoms of FD to develop a better understanding of these disorders and their causes.