Sleep patterns tend to change as you age. Most people find that aging causes them to have a harder time falling asleep. They wake up more often during the night and earlier in the morning. Total sleep time stays the same or is slightly decreased (6.5 to 7 hours per night).
Age-related changes in sleep include advanced sleep timing, shortened nocturnal sleep duration, increased frequency of daytime naps, increased number of nocturnal awakenings and time spent awake during the night, and decreased slow wave sleep.
Sleep Deprivation Symptoms
Muscle strength and endurance diminish, vital organs cannot function at optimal levels, pain tolerance decreases, and insulin production and effectiveness decrease. The immune system is also weakened, which leads to a greater risk of infections and illnesses.
Insomnia in the Elderly
In elderly individuals, sleep‐maintenance insomnia and early awakening are more common complaints than sleep‐onset insomnia; this is likely due to the age‐related changes in sleep architecture and circadian rhythm described above.
From arthritis to depression, most health problems can lead to fatigue and excessive sleeping. So it's no wonder that old people–who often have more of these conditions than anyone else–are so tired!
Sleeping more and more is a common feature of later-stage dementia. As the disease progresses, the damage to a person's brain becomes more extensive and they gradually become weaker and frailer over time.
Excessive sleep may occur for several reasons including: Poor sleep quality at night. Side effects of medication. Emotional challenges like depression or anxiety.
Some decline in energy is to be expected with age, but intense and life-altering fatigue is concerning. Aging doesn't have to completely impair you or prevent you from living your life to the fullest. You shouldn't accept these signs and symptoms as a normal part of the aging process.
Sleep and Aging
Older adults need about the same amount of sleep as all adults—7 to 9 hours each night. But, older people tend to go to sleep earlier and get up earlier than they did when they were younger.
Compared with younger adults, the elderly spend more time in bed but have deterioration in both the quality and quantity of sleep. All of these changes can lead to excessive daytime sleepiness, which in turn can lead to intentional and unintentional napping.
Research shows that lack of sleep increases the risk for obesity, heart disease and infections. Throughout the night, your heart rate, breathing rate and blood pressure rise and fall, a process that may be important for cardiovascular health.
Many older people experience insomnia, which can be due to mental health issues, medical conditions, and lifestyle changes. Treatment may involve improving sleep habits, therapy, and medication. Some estimates suggest that up to 50% of older adults report symptoms of insomnia.
Well, this depends on a person's age, health, fitness level and lifestyle. Generally, the more years that pass, the more you'll value your beauty sleep, and its true senior fatigue is a real thing. However, most people start experiencing a decline in their energy levels by the time they reach their mid-thirties.
These include: Having medical treatments, like chemotherapy and radiation, or recovering from major surgery. Infections. Chronic diseases like diabetes, heart disease, kidney disease, liver disease, thyroid disease, and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.
What Does Sleep Look Like in Older Adults? According to their internal body clock, most older adults need to go to sleep around 7 p.m. or 8 p.m. and wake up at 3 a.m. or 4 a.m. Many people fight their natural inclination to sleep and choose to go to bed several hours later instead.
While a 30- to 90-minute nap in older adults appears to have brain benefits, anything longer than an hour and a half may create problems with cognition, the ability to think and form memories, according to the study published in the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society.
Sufferers of advanced sleep phase disorder have an 'early' circadian clock; they feel sleepy and want to go bed in the early evening (6 p.m. to 9 p.m.) and wake up in the early hours of the morning (2 a.m. to 5 a.m.).
Who is Defined as Elderly? Typically, the elderly has been defined as the chronological age of 65 or older. People from 65 to 74 years old are usually considered early elderly, while those over 75 years old are referred to as late elderly.
Esty found that most 80-year-olds experience less anger, worry and stress than they did in past decades. Through time and experience, people in their 80s have already experienced loss and other difficult situations and learned to cope better than other age groups.
Most of Europe have similar views of old age to the World Health Organisation, believing old age starts at 65 years of age. In America, one researcher found that you are considered old at 70 to 71 years of age for men and 73 to 73 for women.
An elderly person not eating and sleeping all the time could be because of a medical condition, dementia, or depression. However, you can help them readjust by establishing routines, adding softer foods to their diet, and using modified tableware.
The physiological changes that occur with ageing that can impair appetite include changes to the digestive system, hormonal changes, disease, pain, changes to the sense of smell, taste and vision and a decreased need for energy. Changes to the digestive system can contribute to declining appetite.