According to a recent study that short meal-to-bedtime (MTBT) or simply eating close to bedtime, during pregnancy, increases risk of developing gastroesophageal reflux disease or GERD.
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| Photo: Pregnant Woman | InStyleHealth |
“This dieting habit was significantly associated with
reflux symptom frequency and reflux-related insomnia,” according to researchers.
There were 400 pregnant women with average age >18
years visiting the antenatal clinic of Gia-Dinh People’s Hospital, Vietnam, were
involved in this cross-sectional study. GERD was described as having
difficulties in initiating or maintaining sleep through the night. Meal-to-Bedtime
(MTBT) was considered “short’ if it was <2 hours in more than two-thirds
of days in a given week.
There were 154 (38.5%) patients with GERD and 20 (13%)
with reflux-related insomnia were recognized. Using the multivariate analysis,
it revealed three factors that were significantly correlated with GERD: third trimester,
previous history of typical reflux symptoms, and short MTBT (meal-to-bedtime).
Frequency of reflux symptoms revealed a progressive
increase across subgroups of patients with no short MTBT, either daytime or
night-time short MTBT, and with both daytime and night-time short MTBT.
Additionally, night-time MTBT associated with a heightened risk of
reflux-related insomnia.
Short MTBT (meal-to-bedtime) came out as the predominant
risk factor for GERD in pregnant women based on the results of the study
provided with evidence. For complete details of this medical study, click here.
Source:
J Clin
Gastroenterol 2021;55:316-320