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How Do Sleep Problems Differ For The Elderly As Compared To The General Population?
By: HealthCentral.com

Some sleep disorders are more common as you get older. For example, sleep apnea (difficulty with normal breathing patterns during sleep) appears to be more common as people get older.

Also, older people may have multiple medical problems or may be receiving multiple medications that can interfere with sleep. So we see this combination of sleep problems and illnesses and medications that can interfere with sleep become more common as people get older.

Also, sleep patterns change as we get older. The quality of normal sleep changes and sleep is lighter and less efficient. So the combination of all these things contributes to the increase in difficulty sleeping as people get older.

Often we divide sleep symptoms into two basic types: insomnia or daytime somnolence, which means difficulty with initiating or maintaining sleep, and daytime somnolence is excessive sleepiness during the daytime.

Classically, we think of insomnia as being more likely due to stress or psychosocial issues, while with daytime somnolence, we’re more concerned about a sleep disorder, such as sleep apnea. But symptoms of these conditions can overlap, so they can cause symptoms of either insomnia or daytime sleepiness.

Sleeping problems are extremely common in the elderly. Probably about one third to one half of older people complain about having difficulty with their sleep. And use of sleeping medications, particularly over-the-counter agents, is pretty common.

HealthCentral.com

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