By: Jean Johnson for Reflux1Since quality of life issues figure in prominently to nighttime sleep and reflux disorders and because 2003 research suggested relationships between the conditions, two recent studies presented at the 70th Annual Scientific Meeting of the American College of Gastroenterology focused on making connections between the problems.
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Facts on GERD and sleep:
According to the National Sleep Foundation’s 2001 Sleep in America poll, nearly 7 out of 10 Americans say they experience frequent, largely undiagnosed sleep problems.
The International Foundation for Functional Gastrointestinal Disorders (IFFGD) notes that various methods to effectively treat GERD range from lifestyle measures to the use of medication or surgical procedures.
IFFGD also urges those individuals who suffer persistent heartburn or other chronic and recurrent symptoms of GERD to seek an accurate diagnosis, work with their physician and get the most effective treatment available for this chronic, treatable problem. |
“Connections between sleep apnea and acid reflux,” said Rachel Thompson of Flagstaff, Arizona. “I may live in an out of the way berg here in Northern Arizona, but that’s pretty much common sense isn’t it? In the years before my father died, he had the apnea thing. You should have heard him snorting and snoring in his sleep. It was so outrageous we had to move him into his own separate room.”“He’d sort of work up to it. Snore away and then would come a really big, long gnarly one that would almost raise the roof. Then we’d have this interminably long silence while we all looked around at each other wondering just how long a human being could hold his breath.” Thompson laughs, remembering.
“Anyway, dad was quite heavy. What you’d call obese. And mom always said that part of his problem was his big belly pressing down on those huge meat and potato dinners he used to love so – not to mention his many cocktails. I guess he thought they were still on the farm or that was party time every night.”
“Exercise?” said Thompson to our gentle inquiry. “Hardly. He even had a riding lawn mower. He was part of the post-World War II generation that had to have push button everything. One Christmas he even got mom an electric carving knife. They bought into all that decadent stuff and paid for it with their health – not to mention the environment.”
Rachel Thompson might have the link between sleep problems and reflux figured out to her satisfaction, but medical science is a bit more deliberate.
Two years ago research shed some initial light on what experts considered to be the murky relationship between sleep apnea and acid reflux. Although Thompson is correct in understanding that obesity is often a factor in both sleep apnea and acid reflux, researchers hoped to find other correlations that might enable them to more successfully treat these widespread problems.
Sixty million Americans have GERD and sleep apnea affects as many as 18 million people, according to National Institutes of Health. Sleep apnea is a disorder that disrupts sleep and stops breathing for as long as 10 second intervals. People suffering from this problem are at higher risk for cardiovascular diseases. Worse, patients with nighttime apnea do not benefit from a deep, peaceful sleep and are thus feel tired day after day.
Reflux or GERD (gastroesophageal reflux disease) is a highly distressful, painful gastrointestinal problem in which stomach acid backs up into the tender, unlined esophagus behind the breastbone. A GERD attack can produce shortness of breath and be mistaken for a cardiac event. Acid reflux can also lead to further medical complications.
The new research presented at the 70th Annual Scientific Meeting of the American College of Gastroenterology found links between these two conditions.
One study found that a quarter of the 81 participants who had sleep complaints but no obvious heartburn symptoms did in fact have nighttime reflux events without realizing it. More, when acid reflux was present, researchers found that it was directly related to sleep disturbance in close to 100 percent of the cases examined.
“These patients are without significant heartburn symptoms, who are experiencing acid reflux during sleep,” said researcher from the Lynn Health Science Institute in Oklahoma City, William Orr, M.D. “‘Silent reflux’ may be the cause of sleep disturbances in patients with unexplained sleep disorders.”
Duke University Medical Center investigators also presented related findings at the annual meeting. This team found that while patients with sleep apnea reported suffering from impaired quality of life, those that had both sleep disturbances and substantial heartburn at night indicated suffering from significant decreases in quality of life.
One of the members of the research team from Duke, Barry O’Connor, M.D., noted that “All patients with sleep apnea should be evaluated for gastroesophageal reflux.”
As far as Rachel Thompson is concerned, the latest studies might make for some benefit to people like her father. “I don’t think dad ever mentioned any stomach problems and his doctors never did either as far as I know. But that was back in the early 1990s. Maybe he wouldn’t have been so darn worn out in his later years if they’d made that connection for him. It probably wouldn’t have changed the way he ate, but it might have helped him some. Anyway, I hope others do get some benefit from all this science.”
