And your genetic susceptibility shouldn’t haunt you either.
A healthy sleep pattern may significantly reduce the risk of digestive diseases regardless of genetic susceptibility.
Research from the UK Biobank has found that those with poor sleep and high genetic risk had approximately 60% increased risk of digestive diseases, whereas a healthy sleep pattern was associated with a lower incidence of digestive disease risk in participants of all genetic risk levels.
“A high genetic predisposition may, to some extent, be mitigated by a healthy sleep pattern,” the authors wrote.
“Meanwhile, individuals with low genetic predisposition may cause a loss of their inherent protection if they follow poor sleep patterns.”
Those with a good sleep score showed a 28% reduced risk of any digestive disease, including a 50% decrease in irritable bowel syndrome, 37% in non-alcoholic fatty liver disease, 35% in peptic ulcer, 34% in dyspepsia, 32% in gastroesophageal reflux disease, 28% in constipation, 25% in diverticulosis, 24% in severe liver disease, and 18% in gallbladder disease compared with those with the lowest scores, the authors wrote.
However, a good sleep score had no significant association with a reduction in risk of IBD or pancreatic diseases.
Over 320,000 people were assessed for sleep scores and a diagnosis of any of 16 different digestive diseases that were not present as baseline. They were followed up for an average of 13 years and had a mean age of 56.
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Self-reported sleep traits included sleep duration, insomnia, snoring, daytime sleepiness and chronotype, and a sleep score was assigned based on these responses.
Sleep scores were determined by assigning one point for each factor: a morning chronotype, sleeping for 7-8 hours a day, rarely or never experiencing insomnia, not experiencing daytime sleepiness and no self-reported snoring.
Poor sleep was categorised as 0-1 points, intermediate sleep as 2-3 points, and healthy sleep as 4-5 points.
Sleep duration alone showed significant risk reduction across various digestive diseases, regardless of overall sleep score. Consistent sleep of 7-8 hours per day was associated with reduced risk of dyspepsia (12%), IBS (18%), constipation (12%), peptic ulcer (15%), GERD (12%), IBD (16%), gallbladder disease (4%), severe liver disease (23%), NAFLD (14%), pancreatic disease (8%), and diverticulosis (7%).
Sleep deficiency promotes the release of inflammatory cytokines, potentially elevating susceptibility to digestive diseases through chronic low-grade inflammation, the researchers explained. Sleep disturbance is also known to correlate with HPA axis activation, changing gut bacteria composition and decreasing intestinal barrier function.
“Notably, participants with higher healthy sleep scores exhibited a greater likelihood of engaging in physical activity and nonsmokers, as well as having lower BMI, TDI and a lower prevalence of comorbidities including anxiety, depression, hypertension, heart failure, renal failure, asthma, COPD, diabetes and thyroid disease,” the authors wrote.
