It is very rare for older people to have no sleep problems. Most of them constantly complain, if not persistent insomnia, then intermittent, restless sleep, that they often wake up in the middle of the night, and wake up early in the morning. Does this indicate health problems, or can such changes be taken as normal?
What is your regime?
One general tendency has been noticed: old people go to bed earlier, some - immediately after dark. This is understandable - over the years, fatigue increases, and in the evening it already tends to sleep. Naturally, they can wake up even before dawn with the feeling that they have completely slept. Maybe it's okay? Sleep hours have already been used. And it seems to you that you have slept only a little. And trying to fall asleep at all costs only tires.
When something hurts
This is a separate issue that does not depend on age. If a person has health problems, they will of course have trouble sleeping. In this case, this is a question for the doctor. But an elderly person can be pursued by all sorts of chronic diseases. His joints ache regularly, his lower back hurts, his pressure rises … Overwork also often prevents him from falling asleep. And he himself notices: when nothing hurts, then the dream is getting better.
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Some people like to take a nap during the day
This can bring a smile to the younger family members: grandparents sleep during the day and complain of insomnia at night. Meanwhile, these are very interrelated phenomena. Lack of sleep can have a negative effect on the immune system and overall body tone, as well as lead to daytime sleepiness. Others would be happy to rest for an hour or two during the day, but cannot fall asleep. All people are different, and this should be treated normally. And even more so, do not treat insomnia or drowsiness as a sign of aging.
And what is the norm after all?
Scientists say that complaints of insomnia in old age are often exaggerated. The older a person is, the less time he needs to sleep, this must be taken for granted and stop worrying. In one study, 69% of older adults reported trouble falling asleep, but 81% of the cases did not find any serious sleep disturbance problems such as illness or nervousness. People just didn't want to sleep.
On the other hand, it is difficult to establish these very parameters: how much sleep do people of different ages need? It would be a mistake to think that since our elders sleep less time than you and I, then it should be so. It just means that the body gives them much less sleep than it should. But how much is required - let's try to figure it out further.
What changed?
One of the main hypotheses is that the circadian rhythm of sleep, that is, the mode of falling asleep and waking up, is disturbed with age. The internal and external clocks are desynchronized. For example, this can happen when changing time zones or shift work.
The shift in sleep phases cannot but affect a person's well-being, especially in old age. The syndrome of early (or late) falling asleep makes a person go to bed earlier / later than usual and, accordingly, wake up earlier / later. And more often than not, such a dream does not bring rest, as it could at a young age.
Cruel experiments
Russian scientists have conducted an unusual experiment involving 130 people of different ages. During the day, the subjects were not allowed to sleep, and they had to assess for themselves how much sleepiness overpowered them at different hours. During these periods, various reactions of the body were manifested: the body temperature increased or decreased, moreover, at different times of the day and night, the release of the hormone melatonin increased in the evening. In addition, the volunteers measured their slow-wave brain activity several times during this day, which was most pronounced at the time of sleep.
Then all of this data was analyzed and compared with data from the same people obtained a week ago to see how brain waves varied depending on the tendency to morning or evening sleepiness. As a result, it was confirmed that older people feel sleep-craving at different times with younger people and have different timings of slow-wave activity in the brain.
Melatonin is another reason
Decreased levels of the hormone melatonin with old age can affect sleep. The researcher and author of works on this topic, Arkady Putilov, says that two mechanisms may be responsible for reducing sleep time. He believes that in adulthood, the processes underlying the fluctuations in slow wave sleep weaken, making it difficult to fall asleep. And yet, in old age, the failure of circadian rhythms is obvious, since the release of the hormone melatonin is slowed down.
Once again about daytime sleep
Even young people say that a short nap in the daytime can invigorate and restore strength for the whole day. This can be said with confidence about the elderly. Indeed, if among people under 40 there are as many early birds as there are night owls, then the elderly audience is more homogeneous in this regard: early sleep, early awakening, daytime sleepiness at certain hours.
We said at the very beginning that a decrease in the duration of sleep in older people is almost the norm. Although it would be dishonest to say that this is how it should be in reality. The mere fact that older people sleep at more specific times suggests that there is a narrow range of times in which they can fall asleep. Not because old people need to sleep less, no, but there is a narrower window in time for their sleep. They want to take a nap during the day - they sleep, and this may interfere with night sleep. In turn, lack of sleep at night causes sleepiness during the day - and then you need to catch up. Everything is natural.
Drawing conclusions
Although it is too early to draw conclusions, since the myth that older people require less sleep has not been debunked or proven by anyone. An elderly person is looking for a reason in himself, comparing himself today with himself yesterday. And this, at least, is illogical, because at different ages, the circadian rhythms of sleep and wakefulness are completely different. Another thing is that in old age we can make up for the lack of sleep at night with a respite and a short sleep in the daytime, which, by the way, are deprived of most young people who need to work or study.