People With Sleep Problems Have an Increased Risk of Developing Digestive Diseases

People with poor sleep and high genetic risk have a significantly increased risk of developing digestive diseases, according to a study presented at Digestive Disease Week 2024, taking place May 18-21 in Washington, DC.

Researchers sought to discern the link between sleep patterns and incidence of digestive diseases. They also assessed the interaction between genetic susceptibility and these diseases.

The study consisted of 410,586 participants with complete sleep information from the UK Biobank. Researchers measured sleep patterns using a healthy sleep score as the primary exposure. The score was developed using 5 healthy sleep behaviors: morning chronotype, sleep for 7 to 8 hours per day, never/rarely experience insomnia symptoms, no self-reported snoring, and don’t often feel sleepy during daytime. Genetic risk of digestive diseases was characterized by polygenic risk score.

The results showed that healthy sleep scores were associated with a reduced risk of digestive diseases. Overall, the analysis found that participants sleeping 7 to 8 hours per day exhibited a 3% to 23% decrease in the risk of various digestive diseases. Conversely, participants with poor sleep in the high genetic risk group had a 53% or higher increase in risk of digestive diseases compared with those with healthy sleep and low genetic risk. A healthy sleep pattern was linked to lower digestive disease risk across various genetic risk levels, the researchers noted.

“Our findings underscore the potential holistic impact of different sleep behaviors in mitigating the risk of digestive diseases in clinical practice. In this large population-based cohort, a healthy sleep pattern was associated with reduced risks of digestive diseases, regardless of the genetic susceptibility,” the researchers concluded. They added that “particular attention should be directed to optimal sleep duration and the mitigation of insomnia, given their pivotal roles in mitigating the risk of digestive diseases.”