Why More Old More Difficult to Sleep?

Humans need sleep to recharge body and mind in order to continue to work effectively. The amount of sleep older adults to remain the same between 6-7 hours per day, but the parents are usually only able to sleep 3-4 hours.

Research conducted Surrey Sleep Research Centre at the University of Surrey and Harvard Medical School found that when people were allowed to sleep as much as desired, parents have an average of 1.5 hours of sleep less.

All adults through different phases during sleep at night. This includes the number of episodes of rapid eye movement or REM sleep (the dream stage of sleep when) for the muscles are relaxed but the brain is very active, interspersed with non-REM sleep where the brain is less active but the body moves around.

Why More Old More Difficult to Sleep?

But the elderly tend to have only one period of sleep soundly every night usually in 3 or 4 hours of the first and after that they can wake up more easily.

Improved sleep problems can occur with age. Some sleep problems, particularly insomnia were also more common with age. Elderly are also more likely to suffer from chronic health problems that can interfere with sleep. As a result many parents follow the pattern of poor sleep.

This can be exacerbated by the gradual reduction in the production of hormones such as melatonin and growth hormone which helps to maintain the body's daily rhythms. Elderly people who already do not have a routine, might be tempted to sleep in the afternoon so it would be difficult to sleep at night.

If the elderly insomnia there may be a disease that often interfere as quoted from BBCHealth, Thursday (11/03/2011), among others:

1. Depression and anxiety
Depression is common in the elderly and those who may have trouble sleeping. Anxiety can cause a person difficult to sleep and stay awake. Depression or anxiety can also cause a person to wake up early morning and can not fall back asleep.

2. Chronic Disease
Painful conditions such as arthritis are often experienced by the elderly, the average age reached 70 years. So the pain of arthritis often disturb sleep.

3. Dementia
Dementia can disrupt the normal pattern of daily activities. Some people with dementia become more confused when day turns into night. Or the problem commonly known as sundowning. A person with dementia when experiencing sundowning may become very uneasy, wandering, or shout out.

4. Respiratory disease and heart disease
Conditions such as chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and heart failure can cause discomfort problems or respiratory problems that can interfere with sleep. COPD is also known, or more commonly referred to as chronic bronchitis.

5. The need to use the restroom
As women age, will often find it more difficult to hold urination. Making it difficult to get through the night without seeing a small room at all.

This is probably due to problems with the prostate gland in men, decreased strength of the pelvic floor muscles in women, which is useful for holding a filled bladder.

Sleep disorders are common in the elderly, among others:

1. Insomnia
Insomnia has affected as many as 1 in 3 elderly, causing elderly are not getting quality sleep.

2. Sleep apnea
Sleep apnea causes sleep constantly interrupted because the lungs fail to attract enough oxygen through the respiratory tract. When age get older, all the muscles become weaker, and respiratory tract are more likely to be under pressure of the layer of fat on the face and neck.

This causes poor sleep quality, daytime performance is reduced, and increased risk of heart attack and stroke.

3. Restless legs syndrome
Although common, but some people just know about the condition until they experience symptoms that lead to the development of the syndrome. The cause is unknown but may be associated with neurological diseases, kidney disease, Parkinson's disease, anemia, and certain drugs.

Some people have periodic limb movement disorder. These conditions will respond to the type of drugs used to treat Parkinson's disease, the drugs that increase levels of neurotransmitters (chemical messengers nerve) dopamine.