Inflammation, not symptoms, found to disrupt sleep in IBD patients

Impaired sleep architecture in inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) is primarily driven by inflammatory activity rather than symptomatic flares as previously thought, according to a study published in Clinical Gastroenterology and Hepatology. 

Sleep architecture is the structural organization of a normal sleep cycle, encompassing the progression and distribution of different stages of sleep — light sleep, deep sleep and rapid eye movement (REM) sleep — throughout a typical night’s rest.

Susan Kais, MD, a board-certified gastroenterologist and assistant professor of clinical medicine in the Division of Digestive Diseases at the University of Cincinnati College of Medicine, noted in a recent MedCentral article that the study's results are significant, in part because of the methodology used.

Researchers used data from wearable devices and fitness trackers to track patients' long-term sleep patterns.

“In addition, the study was then able to overlap these assessments with both symptomatic and inflammatory data more readily,” she added. Kais was not involved in the study.

The study's authors said their findings suggest that significant changes in sleep, including reduced rapid eye movement (REM) and increased light sleep, occur only when inflammation is present. They said significant changes were noticed before and after patients experienced IBD flares.

Kais recommended that clinicians prioritize controlling inflammation to improve sleep disturbances in patients with IBD.

“As clinicians, we may be overlooking sleep disturbances as an important IBD metric that should be assessed more routinely. More frequent monitoring of inflammatory markers, such as C-reactive protein and fecal calprotectin, alongside the integration of wearable sleep technology devices, can detect disturbances early and guide timely, sleep-related interventions,” she said.

Kais said further studies can explore the impact of sleep interventions versus over-the-counter options.

Featured image at top: iStock/FG Trade.