Association of functional dyspepsia with selected dermatology complaints and sleep disturbances based on traditional Persian medicine

Abstract

Background: Functional dyspepsia (FD) is a common disorder of the upper gastrointestinal tract. Several documents in conventional medicine claim an association between FD, sleep disturbance, and some dermatological conditions, but there is still debate about these relationships. This study aimed to measure the association between FD and some skin problems and sleep indices based on the attitudes of traditional Persian medicine. Methods: This study was carried out on patients with the diagnosis of FD and healthy people. The study populationconsisted of patients who referred to the gastroenterology clinic of Shiraz University of Medical Sciences (Shiraz, Iran) from July to December 2019. To diagnose dyspepsia, we used Rome III criteria. Skin problems and sleep indices were evaluated using a validated researcher-made questionnaire. P-values of ≤0.05 were considered significant. Results: Overall, 160 patients (46 men and 116 women) with FD and 155 healthy individuals (36 men and 119 women) were enrolled in the study. There were significant differences between patients and healthy individuals in terms of dryness of skin (P = 0.001), oily hair, deep sleep, long sleep, insomnia, difficulty sleeping, and nightmares (p≤0.001). On the other hand, there were no significant differences between the groups in intermittent sleeping (P = 0.116) and periorbital edema after sleeping (P = 0.195). Conclusions: According to the results of this study, it seems that there is a positive relationship between FD and some dermatological and sleeping indices based on traditional Persian medicine resources.