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Deep Sleep may act as Fountain of Youth in Old Age

posted by on Monday April 10 2017, @12:39PM   Printer-friendly
from the for-the-aged-among-us dept.

"exec" writes:

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?

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  • (Score: 2) by DannyB on Monday April 10 2017, @06:38PM (2 children)

    by DannyB (5839) Subscriber Badge on Monday April 10 2017, @06:38PM (#491816) Journal

    Try having another source of steady background noise. A box fan. White noise. Ocean sounds.

    Peeing before bed time should just be a habit. No force.

    6:30 is when my alarm goes off. More code to write.

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  • (Score: 2) by Dr Spin on Monday April 10 2017, @08:29PM (1 child)

    by Dr Spin (5239) on Monday April 10 2017, @08:29PM (#491925)

    Noise is not a problem in itself, or even, volume. Type of noise is an issue: As a teenager, I used to sleep next to a 5,000 HP diesel engine, and I once slept under the stage at a Greatful Dead performance.

    I can not easily sleep though people talking: I want to know what they are saying!

    My wife does not complain about the Sun servers in the room next to our bedroom (50dB measured in the bedroom!) but she goes berserk if a neighbour's dog barks.

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