Acid Reflux and a Good Night Sleep
November 8th, 2007 | by Mark Sapienza, M.D. |
Sleep problems related to acid reflux disease (GERD) are common. These individuals typically have symptomatic reflux disease and experience symptoms such as heartburn and abdominal pain which keep them up and cause insomnia. But people may also have background GERD with minimal to no reflux symptoms and may be unaware of any existing reflux problem. A study published in this month’s Digestive Diseases and Sciences journal was conducted to determine if an association between patients with insomnia and asymptomatic reflux disease exists. Enrolled patients who met criteria for the study received sleep studies and 24 hr pH testing for GERD and were then treated for two weeks with rabeprazole, a proton pump inhibiting antacid. The researchers concluded that a minority of patients with asymptomatic reflux disease did have significant improvement in sleep efficiency. The data in this study is preliminary and involves a small number of test subjects but it may one day lead to help for many people afflicted with insomnia.
Reference: Shaheen NJ, et al (Digestive Diseases and Sciences - Nov 2007
Tags: acid reflux, GERD, insomnia, sleep study