Elderly Sleeping Problems - What are they - What can be done

It was once thought that as you got older you needed more sleep; that it was perfectly normal for gran and gramps to supplement their night time sleep with additional naps during the day. But for the elderly sleeping should be around about the same time as when they became adults.

Sleep changes as you age
What does change as you age is the quality of sleep and the sleeping patterns so after about 50 for men and 60 for women there is a distinct decrease in the amount of delta or deep sleep which is where the cell growth and repair takes place as well as memory consolidation.

The amount of time spent in bed may increase by as little as 30 minutes for someone aged 75 compared to someone aged 20. For the elderly sleeping is lighter so they are much more susceptible to the slightest of disturbances and may have hundreds of micro awakenings in the night lasting for up to 15 seconds.

The sleep in between the awakenings might go unnoticed so the older person trying to sleep may think that they have been awake all night. Sometimes just the knowledge that you have actually got some sleep, and quite a decent amount in aggregate, is enough to be more relaxed about any perceived sleeping problems.

Sundowners Syndrome
The brain is always active and is hungry for stimulation and this doesn't change as we get older. For some people especially those with mild senility the need for this stimulation seems greater and although functioning and orientation during the day is okay when it comes to the end of the day with the decrease in stimulation they can become confused and agitated. This is known as Sundowners Syndrome.

Medications
By the time you're past retirement you may have accumulated a serious number of pills that you take that have been prescribed by your doctor. The problem is that older people metabolize medications more slowly than someone 40 years younger so sleeping pills for instance that would dissipate over an eight hour period of sleep may remain in the system causing daytime drowsiness and sedation. It might be a matter of the pills strength as well so taking pills that might have a very mild side affect of insomnia in a 30 year old could cause severe insomnia in a 70 year old.

Age is not an excuse for sleeping badly
If you are past middle age and you are generally in good health with little resort to medications then you shouldn't necessarily need to nap during the day and you shouldn't be sufferer from insomnia.

Stimulate the brain
If you do sleep poorly at night and have retired it's important not to sit around all day doing nothing with little or no stimulation during the day. The brain must continue to have challenges albeit less stressful ones than looking after a family and a job.

It might seem like a luxury you could ill afford when getting up early every morning to go to work but sleeping in, in the morning is not a good idea if you are having problems sleeping at night and should be avoided otherwise you'll get into a vicious circle of getting up late and going to bed later and later.

How you should feel
Although there is no doubt there are some physiological changes that take place as you age that affect sleeping patterns and the type of sleep such as less deep sleep, the quality and amount of sleep will be normal for you if you wake up feeling refreshed and your daytime efficiency and alertness hasn't decreased from what it used to be.

For the elderly sleeping problems may manifest themselves as feeling drowsy and running on empty with little energy during the day so take stock of your daytime activities to make sure you are exercising your brain as well as your body.
Also check with your doctor to make sure any medications you are on are not having an adverse affect on your effectiveness during the day which might then be causing night time sleeping problems.

About the Author

Lelliot is a long term sufferer of insomnia and has been researching into elderly sleeping problems and all things sleep related for about 15 years. Get advice on beating insomnia and other sleeping resources www.SleepandSleepingTips.com

Vista Problems 8 - How to Counter Vista Hybrid Sleep Problem?

Hybrid Sleep is the best thing in Vista that I love most! The Hybrid sleep mode might not work well on older computer, you should check the support level of hybrid sleep mode on your computer with "powercfg -a" command. I will outline some of the common sleep problems in this article, and show you the proper way to diagnose and solve it.

Problem #1 - Sleep mode not supported.

Some older hardware will not support the sleep mode properly, the level of sleep mode supported varies between different hardware. Open command Windows and type "powercfg -a" to list the support level of each hardware.

There are 4 levels of sleep mode:

S1 - Light Sleep

S2 - Deeper Sleep

S3 - Deepest Sleep

S4 - Hibernation

Problem #2 - Unwanted wakes up call.

Many unwanted and unexpected wakes up reported by users. Some wakes up after 2 ~ 3 minutes, some take longer. One principle here: Vista will not automatic wakes itself unless activated the schedule task or hardware. On that basis, we must first determine how many hardware from the computer is supporting wake up function. Open command Windows and type "powercfg -devicequery wake_armed", this command will list the hardware with wakes up support.

Then go to Device Manager and disable the wake up function on the "Power Options" tab, one by one, to determine the actual hardware that causes such problem. I use this method to discover and disable my mouse's wakes up feature, from that day, my Vista never wakes up unpredictably.

Finally, you should update your Vista, your computer's BIOS and firmware, then get the latest drivers for your hardware.

(C) Copyright 2008 Kok Choon - Feel free to reprint this article in its entirety as long as all links and author resources box in place.

About the Author

Do you need extra tuning tips? How about a 58 step by step instruction with detail pictures ==> Unleash Vista Power Advance Guide
Restore Vista speed in 2 Hours without expensive hardware upgrades ==> Repair And Recover Vista Speed Strategy Guide

Do You Have a Sleep Disorder?

Users always ask me how they can tell if they have a sleep disorder. The advice I usually give them is to use a log book and record any happenings before, during or after your sleep. You will be pleasantly surprised at the results you can glean when you look at these seemingly isolated incidents at a later time.

Typically, a sign that you have a sleep disorder is if you have trouble going to sleep or staying asleep, problems staying awake, unusual behaviors during sleep (e.g., sleep walking, restless leg syndrome or grinding of teeth), very loud, disruptive snoring, or episodes where people see you stop breathing during sleep (sleep apnea). If any of these issues are present, check out my other articles for some simple home remedies you can try tonight. Usually, poor sleep habits are mistaken for sleep disorders; you should definitely exhaust all the options suggested before going for professional help. Next, I will talk about the main questions you have to ask yourself to verify if you have a sleep disorder.

How is your sleep? Note if you have difficulty falling asleep and/or staying asleep, or if the problem is early morning awakening. Also, be able to assess if the problem is dependent on quality versus quantity of sleep. If you have difficulty sleeping, do you get stressed and frustrated by your inability to sleep? What do you do when you can’t sleep? Head to the fridge, read a book or watch the television?

What happens while you are asleep? Obviously, a bed partner would be most useful to answer these questions. Is loud snoring or witnessed apneas (stopping of breathing) present? Note if there are any repetitive movements that occur during sleep or when relaxing trying to get to sleep. Do you dream about threatening or frightening situations on a frequent basis? Do you experience unexplained episodes of night terrors? Do you sleep walk, talk, grind your teeth, or wake up confused?
What is you weekday and weekend bedtime and rise time? An important differentiating factor in judging the significance of a sleep problem is if it is present even when you have the chance to “sleep in.” Also important is how continuous the sleep is. Are there many awakenings and if so how long are they? Bear in mind that sleeping for 9 hours and being awakened in the middle of the night might not be as productive a sleep as 8 hours of uninterrupted rest.

How tired are you during the day? Do you notice yourself closing your eyes while driving, working or studying? How easy is it for you to feel lethargic?

What is your medical and psychiatric history? Many psychiatric and medical conditions will affect the way you sleep, so be able to name your medical problems. Your depression or anxiousness might be the cause of your sleeplessness.  Also, do you use any medications to help you sleep or stay awake, even over-the-counter drugs such as sleeping/caffeine pills? Make a list of supplements/medication that you take regularly.

Do you have any poor sleep habits like watching the television or exercising too close to bed time? Check out my other articles for poor sleep habits you can work on correcting tonight to start sleeping better.

About the Author

Check out my other articles, where I will talk about numerous other sleep disorders and their solutions!

Would you like to stop your snoring permanently? Learn more about sleep, insomnia and numerous other sleep related problems at the one-stop site:
Stop Your Snore

Improve your sleep – improve your life! Contact me with question, suggestions and comments with the contact form listed on the website. See you there!