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Published on: May 16, 2025
Sleep duration affects risk for ulcerative colitis: a prospective cohort study
Ashwin N Ananthakrishnan1, Hamed Khalili1, Gauree G Konijeti1
1Division of Gastroenterology, Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts.
Short or long sleep durations increase ulcerative colitis (UC) risk. This study found that sleeping less than 6 hours or more than 9 hours per night is linked to a higher incidence of UC in women.
Area of Science:
- Gastroenterology
- Epidemiology
- Sleep Medicine
Background:
- Sleep deprivation is linked to inflammatory cytokine production.
- Disturbed sleep quality is associated with increased disease flare risk in Crohn's disease (CD) and ulcerative colitis (UC) patients.
- The relationship between sleep duration and the risk of developing CD or UC has not been previously investigated.
Purpose of the Study:
- To examine the association between habitual sleep duration and the risk of incident CD and UC.
- To investigate if sleep duration is a risk factor for developing these inflammatory bowel diseases.
Main Methods:
- A prospective cohort study utilizing data from the Nurses' Health Study (NHS) I and NHS II.
- Sleep duration was self-reported, and incident CD and UC cases were tracked over several years.
- Cox proportional hazards models were employed to analyze the data, adjusting for potential confounders.
Main Results:
- A total of 151,871 women were included, with 191 CD and 230 UC cases identified.
- Women sleeping <6 hours or >9 hours per night had a significantly higher incidence of UC compared to those sleeping 7-8 hours.
- Sleep duration was not associated with the risk of developing CD, nor was rotating night shift work.
Conclusions:
- Both short sleep duration (<6 hours) and long sleep duration (>9 hours) are associated with an increased risk of developing UC.
- Sleep may be a modifiable risk factor in the development and progression of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD).
- Further research is warranted to explore the role of sleep in IBD pathogenesis.
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