Sleep Month in Review: August 2024

Last month, HCPLive reported on the importance of interdisciplinary care regarding sleep health and debilitating treatments like dialysis. This important issue goes beyond dialysis—sleep is impacted in patients with liver disease, heart disease, and countless diseases in various specialties.

This Month in Review features studies centering on the importance of sleep for cardiovascular health, the sleep impact of liver disease, and a potential itch relief treatment on the horizon that may aid sleep.

Sleep Health in Patients Undergoing Dialysis

Lifesaving But Not Perfect: Addressing Sleep Health in Patients on Dialysis

Dialysis is a physically and mentally exhaustive obligation often linked to burdensome symptoms related to sleep. Despite this, patients frequently hesitate to tell their doctors about their sleep issues since their healthcare team’s greater focus tends to be on their kidney health.

It wasn’t until recently that conversations surrounding interdisciplinary care in dialysis care started taking place, with KDIGO holding a conference in May 2022 to discuss the best practices for diagnosing and managing both physical and mental symptoms in patients undergoing maintenance dialysis. HCPLive spoke to a patient who had undergone dialysis, a nephrologist, a sleep expert, and a psychiatry expert on dialysis’ impact on sleep health.

Importance of Sleep for Cardiovascular Health

Catching Up on Sleep on Weekends Links to 20% Lower Risk of Developing Heart Disease

Catching up on sleep during the weekend after a long work or school week can improve cardiovascular health. A recent prospective cohort study, presented at the European Society of Cardiology (ESC) Congress 2024 on August 29, 2024, in London, discovered that participants with the most catch-up sleep had a 20% lower risk of developing heart disease than those with the least catch-up sleep.

“The association becomes even more pronounced among individuals who regularly experience inadequate sleep on weekdays,” said study co-author Yanjun Song, from Fuwai Hospital in China, in a statement.

Liver Disease’s Impact on Sleep

Poor Sleep, Renal Function Linked to Risk of Developing New-Onset MASLD

A new study, led by Tian Tian, MD, from Anhui Medical University in China, leveraged data from a UK Biobank study and found poor sleep and renal function were linked to a 5.45-fold greater risk of new-onset severe metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease (MASLD), compared to those with healthy sleep patterns and the lowest renal function biomarker scores (P < .001). Renal function impairment partially mediated the link between sleep and new-onset severe MASLD incidence, explaining 10.08% of the correlations. The study also discovered a causal link between insomnia and new-onset severe MASLD.

Physical Activity Identified as Critical Factor in Lowering MAFLD Risk

Physical activity is the most critical lifestyle factor influencing Metabolic Associated Fatty Liver Disease (MAFLD), followed by sleep duration and diet, according to a new study, led by Sicheng Li, from Xiamen Cardiovascular Hospital of Xiamen University, in China. The study suggests increasing sleep duration can reduce the risk of MAFLD. Although the research revealed the combined exposure of sleep duration, metabolic equivalent of task (MET), HEI-2015, and sleep duration was linked to MAFLD, when examined separately MET had the most influence on the reduced risk of MAFLD.

Promising and Not-So-Promising Sleep Treatments

Lebrikizumab Provides Lasting Relief for Itch and Sleep in Atopic Dermatitis

A new study showed lebrikizumab provided steady improvements in itch and sleep loss among patients with atopic dermatitis from week 16 through week 52. Despite positive evidence on lebrikizumab for itch relief up to week 16, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) issued a complete response letter (CRL) for lebrikizumab under the indication of atopic dermatitis.

Eli Lilly and Company resubmitted lebrikizumab to the FDA on April 30, 2024, and while waiting for the decision, conducted another study to evaluate the sustained impact of lebrikizumab monotherapy up to 52 weeks. Investigators 83.1% of patients who took lebrikizumab every 2 weeks reported having no sleep disturbances at week 52.

Sleep Pills May Not Enhance Quality of Life in Hepatocellular Carcinoma Patients

Good sleep duration, sleep efficiency, and the use of sleep medications might not necessarily improve the quality of life for patients with hepatocellular carcinoma who experience sleep disturbances, according to a retrospective study. Instead of sleep pills, these individuals need interventions to improve general health and social functioning for better sleep latency and physical functioning and reduce daytime arousal difficulty.

Investigators observed correlations between sleep quality and sleep disturbances for general health perception, mental health, role-emotional, role-physical, social functioning, and vitality but not between sleep duration, sleep efficiency, and sleep medications.