Sleeping and AgingQ: I think my 71 year old mother has a sleeping problem. She doesn’t agree, but if she wakes up to go to the bathroom during the night, she can’t get back to sleep. She also wakes very early in the morning, sometimes as early as 3:00 AM. I often see her falling asleep in a chair in the living room or at the dinner table. What should I do?
A: I am glad you have noticed your mother’s sleep patterns and you are concerned about them. I suggest you discuss the symptoms of insomnia with your mother and encourage her to see her physician. The National Sleep Foundation, a nonprofit organization supporting sleep research, reports symptoms of insomnia include:
- Difficulty falling asleep
- Waking up frequently during the night
- Difficulty returning to sleep
- Waking up too early in the morning
- Daytime sleepiness
- Difficulty concentrating
- Irritability
Your mother may have symptoms associated with insomnia, but keep in mind our sleep schedules often change as we age. In fact, at age 60 adults begin to sleep less deeply. By age 70, adults have also decreased their nighttime sleep to an average of 6.6 hours. Insomnia does tend to increase with age, but usuallysleep disturbances later in life are due to pain, digestive problems, depression, anxiety, or other medical conditions.
It may not be easy to convince your mother to see her physician, but try to be patient. A poll conducted by the National Sleep Foundation that focused on adults age 60 and older, found that 76% of those polled did not feel they had a sleeping problem and only 45% would report a sleeping problem to their physician if they thought they had one.
Interestingly, 75% of all those polled reported at least one symptom associated with insomnia. A few changes in your mother’s daily routine, such as limiting herself to a 30 minute nap only in the early after- noon, eating a light evening meal, avoiding stressful tasks before bedtime or taking a brisk walk each day may help. Lastly, reassure your mother that her physician should know about her sleep patterns if she is taking any medications, because a number of medications do interfere with sleep.
|
