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Experts say that older Americans frequently have trouble getting good night's sleep. It is a big quality-of-life problem, since unlike popular opinion, the elderly needs comparable number of sleep as younger people. According to senior research associate Dr. Harrison Bloom of the International Longevity Center, sleep problems as well as sleeping disorders aren't an inherent element of aging. Additionally, he also said that it is pretty much of a that older people require less sleep than younger people.

But nevertheless, in research published recently in the American Journal of Medicine, researchers found that more than half of older Americans have problems in obtaining the sleep that they need. Dr. Julie Gammack, an assistant professor of medicine in the Division of Geriatric Medicine at St. Louis University and also the author of the study said that seniors are apt to have rest fragmentation, indicating they wake up more often throughout the night. She also added that seniors seem to get less REM sleep, the kind of sleep where rapid eye movement occurs.

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It is unclear what particular purpose these naturally occurring changes in sleep patterns have on someone's total well being, but what's important however, is that older people usually have actual sleep problems and sleep issues, according to Dr. Bloom. In accordance with this, authorities say that there's frequently multiple case. A professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences and associate director of the University of Washington's Northwest Geriatric Education Center Michael Vitiello mentioned that sleep disturbance in older adults is normally associated with acute and chronic diseases, including specific sleep disorders like sleep apnea and restless leg syndrome that appear with greater frequency in older populations. As people age, they generally create more conditions and suffer with pains and aches. Gammack observed these things can disrupt sleep, so as a sleep problem may actually relate to the results of some of their other health conditions what they may see. Bloom also added that taking multiple medications, similar to seniors do, may also result in fatigue and hypers omnia, or being tired constantly. Still another major issue, Bloom notes, will be depression and anxiety, because these conditions are usually related to insomnia issues.

But inspite of the prevalence of sleep problems in older people, many individuals are not obtaining the support they want. According to Vitiello, the common medical practitioner just receives little training regarding sleep disorders and generally does not routinely screen patients for them. This might be due to lack of time or training, or the belief that there is little that can be carried out to enhance sleep. As a result, sleep disturbances such as for instance insomnia, restless leg syndrome, sleep apnea, and circadian rhythm problems are left untreated and undiagnosed.

In somehow solving the problem, a company on aging, geriatrics and sleep happens to be developing guidelines to promote prognosis, prevention and treatment of sleep issues in older people. According to Bloom, the reason why they're concerned with the situation, besides a significant issue on the grade of life and being tired, is that sleep problems are associated with diabetes, hypertension, pulmonary disease, heart disease, depression, and anxiety. A cause and effect relationship has yet to be established between sleep problems and these chronic health issues, but Bloom implies that they contribute to one another.