Older Women Who Nap Less, Go Back to Sleep Easily
Achieve Healthy Aging
Study of 2,226 senior women, sixty and older, finds
20.8% are “successful agers”.
June
11, 2008 – A study of over 2,000 women in their sixties and older has
found that those who achieve “normal” sleep are also the women who
achieve healthy aging. The best predictors of this successful aging were
less daytime napping and fewer complaints of sleep maintenance insomnia.
Sleep maintenance insomnia is waking up early and
not being able to fall back asleep, according to
Sleepdex, an independent non-profit informational site.
The study, authored by Sonia Ancoli-Israel, PhD, of
the University of California at San Diego, and colleagues, focused on
2,226 women 60 years of age or older.
Reports of use of sleeping aids, daytime somnolence
(feeling sleepy or tending to fall asleep), napping, sleep latency,
sleep maintenance insomnia, early morning awakening, snoring, overall
perceived sleep quality, and sleep duration were all assessed.
According to the results, 20.8 percent of the women
were categorized as “successful agers”.
Less daytime napping and fewer complaints of sleep
maintenance insomnia were the best predictors of successful aging.
There was no direct relationship between use of
sedative-hypnotics and successful aging.
Increased severity of sleep disturbance also
predicted lower self-rated “successful aging” and a greater difference
between perceived and actual age, and this result again remained
significant after controlling for depressive symptom severity.
“Our findings that reports of better sleep are
related to successful aging reinforce the idea that good sleep is of
utmost importance for good health,” said Dr. Ancoli-Israel.
“Health care professionals need to ask their
patients – of all ages – about sleep and help those with poor sleep to
find ways for improvement.”
Unfortunately, many older adults often get less
sleep than they need. One reason is that they often have more trouble
falling asleep. A study of adults over 65 found that 13 percent of men
and 36 percent of women take more than 30 minutes to fall asleep.
Insomnia tends to increase with age and affects
about 40 percent of women and 30 percent of men.
Also, older people often sleep less deeply and wake
up more often throughout the night, which may be why they may nap more
often during the daytime. Nighttime sleep schedules may change with age
too. Many older adults tend to get sleepier earlier in the evening and
awaken earlier in the morning.
Not sleeping well can lead to a number of problems.
Older adults who have poor nighttime sleep are more likely to have a
depressed mood, attention and memory problems, excessive daytime
sleepiness, more nighttime falls and use more over-the-counter or
prescription sleep aids. In addition, recent studies associate lack of
sleep with serious health problems such as an increased risk of obesity,
cardiovascular disease and diabetes.
Need for Sleep
Does Not Decline with Age
Contrary to the popular belief, the need
for sleep does not decline with old age. While the elderly do
find that their slumber becomes more fitful, they continue to
need about the same amount of sleep that they needed in early
adulthood. For this reason, older people tend to nap often
during the day. Experts say that the number of nocturnal
awakenings can start to increase as early as the age of 40. More
on
insomnia in older people. -
Sleepdex, an independent non-profit informational site
While most people require seven to eight hours of
sleep a night to perform optimally the next day, older adults might find
it harder to obtain the sleep they need. Older adults must be more aware
of their sleep and maintain good sleep hygiene by following these tips.
Tips for a Better Nights Sleep
● Establishing a routine sleep schedule.
● Avoiding utilizing bed for activities other
than sleep or intimacy.
● Avoiding substances that disturb your sleep,
like alcohol or caffeine.
● Not napping during the day. If you must
snooze, limit the time to less than one hour and no later than 3 p.m.
● Stick to rituals that help you relax each
night before bed. This can include such things as a warm bath, a light
snack or a few minutes of reading.
● Don’t take your worries to bed. Bedtime is a
time to relax, not to hash out the stresses of the day.
● If you can’t fall asleep, leave your bedroom
and engage in a quiet activity. Return to bed only when you are tired.
● Keep your bedroom dark, quiet and a little
cool.
Although sleep patterns change as people age,
disturbed sleep and waking up tired every day are not part of normal
aging. Those who have trouble sleeping are advised to see a sleep
specialist at a facility accredited by the American Academy of Sleep
Medicine (AASM).
A research abstract of the study will be presented
on Wednesday at SLEEP 2008, the 22nd Annual Meeting of the Associated
Professional Sleep Societies (APSS).
Editor’s Notes:
The annual SLEEP meeting brings together an
international body of 5,000 leading researchers and clinicians in the
field of sleep medicine to present and discuss new findings and medical
developments related to sleep and sleep disorders.
More than 1,000 research abstracts will be
presented at the SLEEP meeting, a joint venture of the AASM and the
Sleep Research Society. The three-and-a-half-day scientific meeting will
bring to light new findings that enhance the understanding of the
processes of sleep and aid the diagnosis and treatment of sleep
disorders such as insomnia, narcolepsy and sleep apnea.
SleepEducation.com, a patient education Web site created by the AASM,
provides information about various sleep disorders, the forms of
treatment available, recent news on the topic of sleep, sleep studies
that have been conducted and a listing of sleep facilities.
June
11, 2008 – A study of over 2,000 women in their sixties and older has
found that those who achieve “normal” sleep are also the women who
achieve healthy aging. The best predictors of this successful aging were
less daytime napping and fewer complaints of sleep maintenance insomnia.
