Does your digestive process slow down when you are asleep?
REPLY:
Yes, newer technologies allow researchers to pass thin tubes into the gastrointestinal tract and to measure the strength and the duration of intestinal motor activity cycles. Simultaneous measurements of rapid eye movements and other parameters of the stages of sleep are also possible. In general, intestinal activity is very quiet during sleep and activity rapidly picks up upon arousal and awakening.
While much research has been done in this century to clarify issues of digestion and intestinal activity after individuals are fed a variety of meals, sleep research in this area shows relatively few papers in a recent Medline search looking at papers dealing with "sleep" and "gastrointestinal motility".
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Bruce Sckolnick, M.D.
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