How much sleep do older adults require? Discuss some common sleep disturbances of aging

Question

What will be an ideal response?

Answer 1

Answer: Older adults require about as much total sleep as younger adults: around seven hours per night. Yet as people age, they have more difficulty falling asleep, staying asleep, and sleeping deeply. Insomnia affects about half of older adults. The timing of sleep tends to change as well, toward earlier bedtime and earlier morning wakening. Changes in brain structures controlling sleep and higher levels of stress hormones in the bloodstream, which have an alerting effect on the central nervous system, are believed to be responsible. Until age 70 or 80, men experience more sleep disturbances than women, for several reasons. First, enlargement of the prostate gland, which occurs in almost all aging men, constricts the urethra (the tube draining the bladder) and leads to a need to urinate more often, including during the night. Second, men—especially those who are overweight and use alcohol heavily—are more prone to sleep apnea, a condition in which breathing ceases for 10 seconds or longer, resulting in many brief awakenings. An estimated 45 percent of older adults are affected. Insomnia in older adults is of special concern because it increases the risk of falls and cognitive impairments. Those who are poor sleepers more often report slower reaction times and attention and memory difficulties.