Digestive Enzyme Supplements Improve Dyspepsia & Sleep

Dyspepsia, a complex gastrointestinal disorder, is influenced by factors like impaired gastric motility, visceral hypersensitivity, and psychosocial elements, leading to symptoms such as abdominal pain, bloating, and early satiety. Functional dyspepsia, affecting 10-30% of the population, lacks structural GI lesions but presents significant discomfort. The Rome Criteria categorize it into Post Prandial Distress Syndrome (PDS) and Epigastric Pain Syndrome (EPS).

Risk factors include Helicobacter pylori infection, NSAID use, stress, and obesity. Initial treatment typically involves lifestyle and dietary changes, avoiding high-fat foods, alcohol, smoking, and NSAIDs.

Non-pharmacological approaches, including psychological interventions and dietary supplements like probiotics, vitamin D, and digestive enzymes, have shown promise in managing symptoms.

A randomized, placebo-controlled, double-blind clinical trial demonstrated that a multi-enzyme supplement (amylase, protease, and lipase) improved upper GI symptoms, daily activity interference, disease control, eating ability, and sleep quality in functional dyspepsia patients.

The relationship between dyspepsia and sleep suggests that poor sleep may exacerbate dyspeptic symptoms and vice versa, affecting overall quality of life.

Optimal Takeaways

• Dyspepsia is a complex disorder with symptoms like abdominal pain, bloating, and early satiety, influenced by various factors, including impaired gastric motility and psychosocial elements.
• Functional dyspepsia, affecting up to 30% of the population, is categorized into Post Prandial Distress Syndrome (PDS) and Epigastric Pain Syndrome (EPS) and is commonly treated with lifestyle and dietary changes.
• Non-pharmacological approaches, including probiotics, vitamin D, and digestive enzymes, have shown promise in managing dyspepsia symptoms.
• A clinical trial showed that a multi-enzyme supplement significantly improved GI symptoms, sleep quality, and overall quality of life in dyspepsia patients.

Reference

Ullah, Hammad et al. “Efficacy of digestive enzyme supplementation in functional dyspepsia: A monocentric, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, clinical trial.” Biomedicine & pharmacotherapy = Biomedecine & pharmacotherapie vol. 169 (2023): 115858. doi:10.1016/j.biopha.2023.115858 This is an open access article under the CC BY license https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/