A leading doctor has said that sleep disturbances could be a sign of liver disease. Doctor Brian Lun, an integrative and functional medicine specialist and chiropractor in Kansas City, suggests that people take note of their wake-up time to distinguish whether liver disease is causing their sleep disturbances.
Lun said in quotes reported by The Express: “Usually, the most common cause of waking up between 1 and 4am is a liver problem. It may be that you have liver inflammation or fatty liver disease, also known as non-alcoholic fatty liver disease.”
The journal of Nature and Science of Sleep have said that waking up in the night is a well-known symptom of liver scarring that can impair a person's quality of life. Concurringly, the Journal of Thoracic Disease have said that roughly 60 to 80 per cent of patients with liver disease struggle with sleep disturbances.
“When your liver becomes burdened by accumulated fat, it can no longer efficiently and effectively please and detoxify your body," explained Doctor Lun. “Since toxins cannot be safely neutralised and removed from the body, the risk of degenerative diseases increases.
“Fatty liver disease almost always coincides with insulin resistance and the development of type 2 diabetes.”
The idea that waking up at specific times is caused by liver disease originates from the Chinese medicine body clock. Doctor Lun added: “Our circadian rhythm is our master 'internal clock' and ensures that all of our organs and internal biological systems work harmoniously together.
“It is during the period between one and 3 am that the liver works its hardest to cleanse and detoxify our body while we sleep. So if your liver is slow and stagnant from an accumulation of fat during the liver cleansing time (1 and 4 am), the body will try to allocate more energy for detoxification and trigger your nervous system to wake up.”
Some studies have suggested certain lifestyle factors affect your wake time. Research published in the Journal of Public Health, in 2015, indicated that having bedtimes that varied by more than 30 minutes, was a reflection of lower dietary quality and higher alcohol consumption, meaning that inconsistent bedtimes can be linked to poor lifestyle patterns.
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