Why sleep patterns change with age and what you can do about it.
Why sleep patterns change with age and what you can do about it.
Why do the sleep patterns change with age?
There is the widespread cliché that teenagers sleep for a long time while older adults wake up early. Surprisingly, this cliché contains a certain truth and is actually part of the natural aging process.
Experts recommend that adults get seven or more hours of sleep a night and establish a regular sleep rhythm by going to bed every evening at the same time. However, when people reach the middle age, they tend to sleep less every night, with the average decreasing every 10 years by 30 minutes. In addition, they often go to bed earlier and wake up earlier.
Why do the sleep patterns change?
To understand why the sleep patterns change, we first have to understand how sleep works. Sleep is not just a single -up, but a complex sequence of phases that are repeated during the night:
Typically, younger adults spend more time in the deeper stages of NREM sleep that are associated with physical recovery.
With age, the architecture or structure of our sleep changes significantly:
The change in the sleep-wake cycle is mainly attributed to changes in the aging brain. With increasing age, our brain becomes less reaction, including its ability to perceive and react different stimuli.
"The connections in the brain are probably not so good at perceiving the stimuli and reacting to how they should because it is an aging brain," said Dr. Sairam Parthasarathy, director of the Center for Sleep and Circadian Sciences at the University of Arizona Health Sciences, in an interview with Huffpost.
This stimuli, such as daylight, social information, meal times and physical activity, help us to determine the time of day. Imagine that you would be locked up in a room without external information - it would be difficult to precisely determine the day and time.
The brain of teenagers still processes these clues efficiently, but with age the degeneration of the brain hinders the synchronization of this information. This difference is one of the reasons why older people get tired earlier and possibly need an earlier bedtime that leads to an earlier wake -up time.
It is also due to the eyes
Our eyes also play an important role in the perception of external information, and it is no surprise that eyesight changes with age.
Interestingly, there is a reason, namely that with age the changes in eyesight reduce the intensity of the light stimulus perceived by the brain, which plays an important role in "setting" our circadian clock and their upright preservation, "said Professor Cindy Lustig from cognition and aging laboratory at the University of Michigan.eye diseases such as cataracts can increase this effect with age. Catar acts that often affect older adults mean that the lens clouds in the eye.
"If there are cataracts, the evening light does not penetrate so much in the eyes, so that our brain perceives the sunset earlier than it actually takes place," said Parthasarathy.
This change can also affect the melatonin levels in the body. Melatonin, also known as sleep hormone, usually starts to rise after sunset. However, if cataracts cause the brain to perceive an earlier sunset, the melatonin levels can increase prematurely, which can lead to an increased need for sleep.
It is normal for the sleep pattern to change with increasing age, but there are certain signs and symptoms that can indicate a more serious sleep disorder or interruption. If you notice one of the following symptoms, it is important to speak to a doctor or a health specialist:These symptoms can indicate diseases such as sleep apnea, insomnia or restless legs syndrome. Medical help can ensure that any underlying sleep disorders or interruptions are properly diagnosed and treated.
While it is natural that the sleep patterns change with age, you can contribute to better sleep and general well -being in old age by using healthy sleeping habits and the treatment of underlying sleep disorders.
Source: Healthy Holistic Living