GERD Affects Sleep Dysfunction

Gastroesophageal reflux disease(GERD) affects up to 40% of adults, andmost patients report that symptoms(heartburn, abdominal discomfort, dysphagia,belching, acid regurgitation) occurat night. Sleep disturbance results fromvolitional or noncognitive attempts at swallowingto clear the acid. Recently, N.Chand, MD, and colleagues evaluated therelationship between sleep abnormalitiesand GERD symptoms using subjective(Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index [PSQI])and objective (actigraphy) measures.Assessments were made on 18 adultpatients with erosive GERD, at baselineand 4 and 8 weeks after treatment withesomeprazole 40 mg qd in the morning.

Results, published in Alimentary Pharmacology& Therapeutics (November2004), showed that only 11.1% of patientshad normal PSQI scores at baseline; thisincreased significantly to 50% after4 weeks and to 28% after 8 weeks oftherapy. Median reflux syndrome score(heartburn, acid regurgitation) decreasedsignificantly from 2 at baseline to 0 atweeks 4 and 8. No statistically significantdifferences in actigraphy scores werenoted throughout the study. Althoughlarger follow-up studies are ongoing, theauthors conclude that esomeprazole controlfor GERD significantly improvedpatient sleep quality.