Researchers have suggested that healthcare providers should inquire about sleep habits in women experiencing nocturnal reflux to identify insufficient sleep as a potential cause.
Insufficient sleep as well as short sleep are associated with night-time symptoms of reflux in women, according to a new study.
Sleeping less than six hours per night is the definition of short sleep. Reporting an average actual sleep duration that is below 80 per cent of the self-estimated need for sleep duration defines insufficient sleep.
In the study of women in Sweden, those with insufficient sleep and short sleep had nocturnal gastroesophageal reflux more often than those with sufficient sleep.
Published in the Journal of Clinical Sleep Medicine, the study warns that persistent insufficient and/or short sleep independently increases the risk of developing nocturnal gastroesophageal reflux over a 10-year follow-up.
Poor positions can often lead to an increase in symptoms of reflux. Multiple research studies have found that being on your left side is the best sleeping position for people with reflux.
Another recently published study also suggests physicians ‘should recognise the potential for poor sleep quality in patients with GERD’ and the effect of body position on this relationship.
How does reflux affect your sleep? Let us know in the comments.
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