United States: Fatty liver disease might result in disrupted sleep and wake-up cycles, depriving ill people of healthy rest, according to a new study.
Such individuals had disruptions in their sleep, so they woke up more frequently during the night and, on the other hand, remained awake for a longer time before they could go back to sleep, researchers found.
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Therefore, the researchers then provided the participants with tips on how to improve their sleep, but their sleep stayed unfavorable.
According to Sofia Schaeffer, the investigator and a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Basel’s Center for Gastrointestinal and Liver Diseases in Switzerland, “Those with [fatty liver disease] demonstrated significant fragmentation of their nightly sleep due to frequent awakenings and increased wakefulness,” upi.com reported.
Fatty liver disease, also known as metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease (MASLD), happens when fat accumulates in someone’s liver.
It is often associated with obesity or type 2 diabetes and affects the liver, leading to conditions like inflammation, scarring, and liver failure.
Fatty liver disease at present hits approximately 30 percent of the adult population, and it will rise to above 55 percent by 2040, researchers noted in background information.
How was the study conducted?
Previous research has suggested that fatty liver disease may interrupt a person’s circadian rhythm, although such studies have used sleep questionnaires, said the researchers.
To perform this study, individuals were asked to use wrist-worn devices that would record the quality of their sleep.
Study participants comprised 46 women and men diagnosed with fatty liver disease, the other eight patients diagnosed with alcohol-related liver disease.
Fatty liver disease was found in all of the patients, and 80 percent of those with the condition suffered from metabolic syndrome, characterized by obesity, elevated blood sugar levels, and high triglyceride levels.
However, the patients with fatty liver disease slept as many hours as a group of 16 healthy volunteers and lay in bed for the same number of hours.
Dietary consumed by patients with fatty liver disease resulted in getting up 55 percent more often than normal healthy people and took 113 percent longer time to fall back to sleep, according to the study.
Patients diagnosed with fatty liver disease also slept during the day and for more extended periods during the day.