How much sleep do older adults require? Discuss some common sleep disturbances of aging
What will be an ideal response?
Older adults require about as much total sleep as younger adults: around 7 hours per night. Yet as people age, they have more difficulty falling asleep, staying asleep, and sleeping deeply. Insomnia affects nearly half of older adults at least a few nights per month. 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. 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. .
You might also like to view...
Research on pheromones indicates they:
a. greatly increase sexual desire in both animals and humans b. increase sexual desire in animals, but there is no strong evidence they effect humans c. increase sexual desire in humans, but not in other animals d. have no major effect on the sexual desire of animals or humans
The type of malnutrition that is caused by an insufficient total quantity of food and in which muscles waste away and stored fat is depleted is:
a. anemia b. marasmus c. kwashiorkor d. stunting
The term "complex trait" implies that
A) two genes alone interact to form complex behavioral patterns seen in psychological disorders. B) genes mutate under the influence of environmental factors resulting in complex behavioral patterns. C) the environment is more influential in the development of complex behaviors such as those seen in mental illness. D) given mental disorders or behavioral traits are influenced by many genes in interaction with environmental factors.
According to cognitive theorists, a lot of information that contributes to a person's psychopathology
A) is processed at a conscious, intentional level. B) is not processed at all. C) is processed at a nonconscious level. D) is processed only when in interpersonal relationships.