Sleep and Older People

Posted by admin in Prescription Sleep Medicine on September 17th, 2009

In general, sleep disturbances become more frequent and more troublesome as we age. The body becomes more weak after the age of 40, so seniors often sleep very badly because Vata disturbances that haven’t been treated only get worse. Even more so than with other ahe groups, older people should remember that the cure for sleeping well at night is to have an active day. If you are tired in a healthy way, your body can use the night to restore physiological balance by itself, without any need for drugs. Older people are often taking s wide variety of treatments, but drugs of very sort impair good sleep, eben if they seem to help in the short run. So medications should be kept to a minimum, sleeping pills should be avoided, and alcohol should be taken only in moderation.

A an individual ages, the body’s excretory functions often becomes less efficient, which means that drugs can linger longer in the body. Whatever goes in takes longer to go out. Yet tests of sleeping pills and other medications are generally carried out on relatively young, healthy experimental subjects. Furthermore, these tests are usually carried out by the manufacturers of the medications themselves. For these reasons, a strong argument, can be made that elderly people should take significantly less than the recommended dosages. As you will see seniors manifest a close relationship between depression, so called senility, and insomnia. Yet many studies have shown that sleeping pills and other medications are reduced or withdrawn, the senility dramatically improves.

If an older person feels the need to take something to foster sleep, the best choice is warm milk with spoonful of honey at bedtime, which is very soothing Vata. It is also a good idea to drink plenty of water. While that might not seem like the most exciting thing in the world, dehydration is a major health concern for seniors. Another good thing to do is to keep the bedroom as dark and quiet as possible. Sometimes, even without being consciously aware of it, light coming in between curtains or under a door can trigger a walking response during the Vata period in the early morning.

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