July 12, 2024
How to improve your sleep. Growing old brings it’s own challenges, and poor sleep is one of them.
Studies suggest that 40-70% of older adults struggle with chronic sleep issues.
A recent study published in Age and Ageing journal indicates that insufficient sleep during middle age may increase the risk of dementia. Over 22,000 participants aged 46 and older showed a higher incidence of dementia if they reported insomnia symptoms during a 19-year follow-up.
Further research from the Study of Women’s Health Across the Nation (SWAN) involving over 3,000 middle-aged women revealed that persistent insomnia correlated with a 60-75%increased risk of cardiovascular events over two decades.
The University of Exeter found a link between midlife insomnia and a negative perception of aging. Individuals who rated their sleep poorly tended to feel older and had a more negative view of their physical and mental aging.
However, Kevin Morgan, emeritus professor of psychology at Loughborough University, cautions against directly correlating poor sleep with illness. While poor sleep is associated with various health issues, it’s not yet confirmed as a cause. Factors like declining health in middle age and degenerative processes impacting both sleep and disease onset contribute, but more data is needed to establish a definitive link between poor sleep in midlife and later-life illnesses.
As we age, our sleep quality tends to decline. According to Kevin Morgan, this decline is characterized by shorter, lighter, and more fragmented sleep, essentially worsening over time. Morgan explains that these changes are normal and unavoidable, meaning that as we grow older, it becomes increasingly difficult to sleep well.
Midlife often presents the toughest challenge for sleep because it’s when the lifestyle habits from our younger years clash with the natural aging process. Morgan notes that people in their sixties don’t indulge in late-night activities expecting no consequences. In our forties, we may still treat our bodies as if we’re much younger, but the truth is, our ability to bounce back from such habits diminishes with age.
Research indicates that our “sleep architecture,” or how we sleep, undergoes changes as we age. The levels of the inhibitory neurotransmitter gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA), which helps relax the body and promote sleep, decrease with age. Additionally, hormones and other neurotransmitters such as melatonin, dopamine, and serotonin, which help regulate our sleep-wake cycle, also decline over time.
Greg Elder, a professor in psychology, notes that many brain regions involved in initiating sleep and waking up show alterations from middle age onward. For instance, the number of neurons producing orexin, another important neurotransmitter for regulating sleep, appears to decrease with age.
Many people in midlife notice subtle changes in their sleep patterns. While falling asleep might not be a problem, staying asleep becomes more challenging for many. Kevin Morgan explains that it’s often the difficulty in returning to sleep after waking up during the night or waking too early in the morning that poses issues.
To tackle insomnia, experts offer the following advice:
1) Expect a decrease in total sleep time:
Research suggests that total sleep time decreases linearly with age, with a potential loss of up to 10 minutes per decade. Additionally, as we age, we spend more time in light sleep compared to deep sleep. While REM sleep and slow wave sleep (SWS) also decline gradually, it’s essential to aim for approximately 7-9 hours of total sleep. Greg Elder emphasizes that individual sleep needs vary, and our bodies usually signal when we need more or less sleep.
2) Avoid using sleep trackers:
Kevin Morgan advises against relying on sleep trackers. He points out that while trackers provide information about different sleep stages, there’s a misconception that more deep sleep is always better. He argues that balanced sleep across all stages, including light sleep, is crucial for overall well-being. Moreover, he highlights the limitations of sleep trackers, as they only offer feedback without providing actionable steps to improve sleep quality.
3. Avoid the camomile tea (you can have a small nightcap)
Having a glass or mug of any fluid—whether it’s alcohol, cocoa, or chamomile tea—within a couple of hours of bedtime is likely to worsen the issue of waking up during the night. Kevin Morgan explains that anti-diuretic hormones, which regulate fluid balance and are released during the night, decrease from midlife onwards, reducing our ability to retain fluids.
While a small amount of alcohol has been shown, both scientifically and anecdotally, to help some people fall asleep faster, relying on a nightcap doesn’t guarantee a restful night’s sleep. Kevin Morgan explains that a modest quantity of alcohol, such as a nip of whisky or sherry, can induce feelings of calmness and drowsiness, thus facilitating the onset of sleep.
4. You can try going to bed later, but always get up at the same time
Kevin Morgan suggests that to enhance the pressure for sleep (homeostatic drive), you can adjust your bedtime earlier or later and avoid daytime napping. However, the key to preserving a stable sleep pattern lies in maintaining a consistent wake-up time. Regardless of when you go to bed, always waking up at the same time helps keep your body clock synchronized.
5. Try Cognitive tricks
Research suggests that strategies like guided meditation, relaxation techniques, and cognitive behavioural therapy for insomnia (CBT-I) can significantly improve sleep quality for midlifers.
Even simple cognitive distraction techniques, such as counting backwards in sevens from 1,000, can help calm a racing mind when trying to fall asleep.
6. Apply the 15-20 rule if you wake up at 3am:
If you tend to experience insomnia, you might find yourself awake around 2-3 am, triggered by even the slightest noise. Kevin Morgan explains that during these moments, lying in bed with eyes closed in the dark can lead to cognitive arousal and worry-thinking.
Emma Sullivan recommends using a technique from CBT-I known as the 15-20 rule. If you’ve been lying in bed trying to sleep for about 15 minutes without success, get out of bed and engage in a quiet activity like reading or knitting until you feel sleepy again. This prevents associating the bed with sleeplessness and reinforces the belief that you can sleep.
We hope this helps if you have sleep issues and if you have any tips of your own, please let us know.
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