Sleep Patterns and Health Troubles
When Carol Gee turned 55, she made a new friend: 4 a.m. In the past, she usually slept through it. She's not the only older adult to have the same experience. In 2017, a national vote conducted by the University of Michigan found that 46 percent of adults 65 and older have trouble falling asleep on a regular basis.
Brains can slow. Wounds take longer to heal. And sleep patterns shift, too. The most noticeable and often most annoying changes are how sleep and wake-up times change and sleep gets lighter, often beginning in middle age. This can come as news to many, says Michael V. Vitiello, a psychologist at the University of Washington who specializes in sleep in aging.
Studies have found that poor sleep can have a particular threat to older adults.
Falls, depression and anxiety, problems with memory, and increased suicide risk are among the impacts of sleepless issues in this population group that researchers have found.
As with changes in sleep architecture and timing, scientists are still unsure why those risk associations exist. Kristine Yaffe, a neuropsychiatrist (神经精神病学家) at the University of California's San Francisco School of Medicine who specializes in dementia, warns that there are more questions than answers when it comes to dementia and sleep. He found that if people have dementia, they tend not to sleep well. Do sleep problems actually lead to dementia?
What is clear is the association between good sleep and psychological well-being in older adults. But sleep quantity didn't show the same effects. And therein, experts say, may lie the key to understanding sleep as you age. If you're sleeping less, but don't feel negative effects out of bed, the changes you notice may just be normal age-related.
Your bedtime pattern changes as you age, is that a sign of trouble? "A lot of older adults recognize that they don't sleep the same as they did when they were 18, but they can still function and they're OK. And all is well with the universe."
A. Researchers think it's hard to say.
B. But recently it has become her new wake-up time.
C. Over time, Vitiello says, sleep patterns simply change.
D. Statistics indicate that restless night is bad to our health.
E. As people age, the body changes in all sorts of predictable ways.
F. Too much work and pressure in life often cause you to wake up earlier.
G. Changes in the brain can be associated with a number of types of dementia.
