Sleep and aging
Why does the quality of sleep deteriorate with age?
Lyubov Sokovikova, Hi-News
It's no secret that in the middle and elderly people sleep about 6-7 hours a day instead of 8-9 hours. At the same time, researchers are more concerned not with the decrease in the number of hours of sleep with age, but with the quality of sleep. The fact is that as we age, many people face unhealthy sleep due to age-related physiological changes. So, according to a meta-analysis conducted by specialists from the University of California Berkeley, these changes can begin at the age of thirty. The study entitled "Sleep and Human Aging" is published in the journal Neuron (Mander et al., Sleep and Human Aging). The results showed that the older we get, the more our ability to sleep soundly is disrupted, during which the body recovers and gains strength, which accelerates the aging process.
Sleepless nights
According to researchers from Oxford University, people around the world suffer from sleep deprivation - a condition that occurs due to chronic lack of sleep. In addition to an increased risk of developing cardiovascular diseases, obesity, diabetes, cancer and depression, lack of sleep reduces immunity and worsens cognitive functions. However, with age, our need for the number of hours of sleep decreases markedly, and older people generally sleep an hour less than young people, which is considered a natural and not harmful to health process. However, restorative sleep tends to decline with age. People spend less time in the deep sleep phase (delta sleep, NREM 3, NREM 4), which is responsible for the normal functioning of memory and helps to restore psychological and physiological health.
A drawing from an article in Neuron – VM.
Age-related changes make themselves felt starting from the age of thirty, mainly in men. According to EEG or electroencephalography, delta sleep is reduced by 50% in some men compared to sleep at the age of 20. For women, the decrease is less, but still reaches 25%. This contributes to lethargy during the day and reduces the quality of sleep. Due to the fact that lack of night sleep generates daytime sleepiness, according to a 2007 study, 10% of people aged 55 to 64 sleep during the day and 25% of people aged 75 to 84.
Drowsiness takes you by surprise
According to scientists, the body can get used to sleep loss and mask the symptoms. In addition, studies show that the need for sleep in older people accumulates and is chronic, but for some reason the brain is less sensitive to it. Experts believe that these changes are happening so slowly that people do not realize them. But is it possible to reverse such changes, because they are directly related to the aging of the body?
Given that such a condition can be biologically caused, there is probably very little science can do. Researchers call a healthy lifestyle, a balanced diet, regular exercise and the ability to cope with stress the best solution to problems with sleep quality. But as for sleeping pills, most medications have a limited effect and are mainly aimed at combating anxiety.
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