Women ages 70 and older can still get an adequate amount of stage 3 sleep (15 percent of the night), whereas men of the same age often only achieve a cycle of deep sleep about 5 percent of the night.
Older adults need about the same amount of sleep as all adults—7 to 9 hours each night. But, older people tend to go to sleep earlier and get up earlier than they did when they were younger. There are many reasons why older people may not get enough sleep at night.
Older people wake up an average of 3 or 4 times each night. They are also more aware of being awake. Older people wake up more often because they spend less time deep sleep. Other causes include needing to get up and urinate (nocturia), anxiety, and discomfort or pain from long-term (chronic) illnesses.
Sleep stages
In general, deep sleep (slow wave sleep) decreases with age in the adult population. During nocturnal sleep, the proportion of non-rapid eye movement sleep (NREM) stage 1 and stage 2 increases with age, and the proportion of slow-wave sleep and REM sleep decreases with age2,11 (see Figure 1).
Age: Time in each stage changes dramatically over a person's life. Newborns spend far more time in REM sleep and may enter a REM stage as soon as they fall asleep. As they get older, their sleep becomes similar to that of adults. Older adults tend to spend less time in REM sleep.
Women ages 70 and older can still get an adequate amount of stage 3 sleep (15 percent of the night), whereas men of the same age often only achieve a cycle of deep sleep about 5 percent of the night.
For healthy adults, 13 to 23 percent of sleep should be deep sleep. For an average eight-hour night of sleep, that's roughly 60 to 110 minutes spent in deep sleep. Additionally, most adults spend close to 25 percent of each night in REM sleep.
However, as we age, many may notice their energy levels aren't as high as they once were – suddenly afternoon naps become even more appealing. In fact, according to a study by the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society in 2010, nearly a third of people aged 51 and up experience fatigue.
Well, this depends on a person's age, health, fitness level and lifestyle. Generally, the more years that pass, the more you'll value your beauty sleep, and its true senior fatigue is a real thing. However, most people start experiencing a decline in their energy levels by the time they reach their mid-thirties.
Beneath the surface, your body is aging too, and sleep loss can speed up the process. A study done by UCLA researchers discovered that just a single night of insufficient sleep can make an older adults' cells age quicker. This might not seem like a big deal, but it has the potential to bring on a lot of other diseases.
Sleeping all day can cause confusion and various cognitive and physical problems for the elderly. It also puts them at higher risk for accidents and injuries. Below are some of the reasons your senior parent may sleep a lot during the day and steps you can take to prevent each issue.
Older adults tend to take more medications than younger people, and the combination of drugs, as well as their side effects, can impair sleep. Your doctor may be able to make changes to your medications to improve sleep. Lack of exercise. If you are too sedentary, you may never feel sleepy or feel sleepy all the time.
These include: Having medical treatments, like chemotherapy and radiation, or recovering from major surgery. Infections. Chronic diseases like diabetes, heart disease, kidney disease, liver disease, thyroid disease, and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.
Daytime napping among older people is a normal part of aging – but it may also foreshadow Alzheimer's disease and other dementias. And once dementia or its usual precursor, mild cognitive impairment, are diagnosed, the frequency and/or duration of napping accelerates rapidly, according to a new study.
Compared with younger adults, the elderly spend more time in bed but have deterioration in both the quality and quantity of sleep. All of these changes can lead to excessive daytime sleepiness, which in turn can lead to intentional and unintentional napping.
Causes of insomnia in elderly adults
Medications, including antidepressants, medicines to treat high blood pressure, or nasal decongestants. Other sleep disorders, such as sleep apnea or restless legs syndrome. Other health conditions, like dementia, Alzheimer's, chronic pain, diabetes, or respiratory diseases.
Most of Europe have similar views of old age to the World Health Organisation, believing old age starts at 65 years of age. In America, one researcher found that you are considered old at 70 to 71 years of age for men and 73 to 73 for women.
Your Bones, Joints, and Muscles
Your muscles get weaker, and the tendons -- which connect muscles to your skeleton -- get stiffer. This will decrease your strength and flexibility. In your 70s, you might lose an inch or two off your height as disks in your back flatten.
Eat Foods High in Protein
Instead, go on a high-protein diet, with plenty of lean meats or quinoa. Many vegetables also are high in protein! Boost your energy and protein levels with boiled eggs, which also give you Vitamin D. A diet low in fat and high in protein does wonders for seniors!
Common underlying issues that can make you feel tired after waking up and persist throughout your day include sleep inertia, sleep disorders, bright light exposure, and a poor bedroom environment, to name a few.
Body weakness is a common complaint of old people. It can be associated with several geriatric syndromes, including frailty, sarcopenia (loss of muscle mass and strength), functional decline, failure to thrive, frequent falls, incontinence, and inability to ambulate.
You feel tired in the afternoon but not at night because of your circadian rhythm. You'll have a natural drop in energy in the afternoons, but then your energy levels will pick up again in the early evening.
As people age, they tend to sleep more lightly and often awaken during the night from achy joints or the need to go to the bathroom. Many people compensate for this lost sleep by catching a restorative nap during the day. That's normal.