Restorative, sedative-free slumber can ward off mental and physical ailments.
http://news.berkeley.edu/2017/04/05/deep-sleep-aging/
As we grow old, our nights are frequently plagued by bouts of wakefulness, bathroom trips and other nuisances as we lose our ability to generate the deep, restorative slumber we enjoyed in youth.
But does that mean older people just need less sleep?
Not according to UC Berkeley researchers, who argue in an article published April 5 in the journal Neuron that the unmet sleep needs of the elderly elevate their risk of memory loss and a wide range of mental and physical disorders.
"Nearly every disease killing us in later life has a causal link to lack of sleep," said the article's senior author, Matthew Walker, a UC Berkeley professor of psychology and neuroscience. "We've done a good job of extending life span, but a poor job of extending our health span. We now see sleep, and improving sleep, as a new pathway for helping remedy that."
-- submitted from IRC
Bryce A. Mander, Joseph R. Winer, Matthew P. Walker. Sleep and Human Aging. Neuron DOI: 10.1016/j.neuron.2017.02.004
[Ed note. (martyb)] I've certainly noticed that I do not sleep as soundly as I used to — I rarely sleep through an entire night. On the other hand, there is a body of evidence for divided/segmented sleep. How has your sleeping fared as you have gotten older?
(Score: 1, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Monday April 10 2017, @01:34PM (2 children)
First, dreaming of free-flying (unassisted, no wing, no devices) got rarer then disappeared (around 35 years of age)
Then wet dreams were gone (around 50). In the same time or very little after, sleep-apnoea and enlarged prostate became a usual part of my sleep landscape.
(Score: 2) by DannyB on Monday April 10 2017, @06:35PM (1 child)
I didn't have free-flying dreams until my 40's. Wet dreams were gone around age 13 due to regular, um, 'maintenance'.
I have no idea how enlarged prostate could affect sleep, and hope not to find out.
People today are educated enough to repeat what they are taught but not to question what they are taught.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday April 11 2017, @08:45AM
Wet dreams were gone around age 13 due to regular, um, 'maintenance'.
I've had about 5 wet dreams my whole life, same reason.
I have no idea how enlarged prostate could affect sleep, and hope not to find out.
Hopefully maintenance helps in this regard?