Publisher's Synopsis
Sound sleep is an important function of our lives and complements successful aging. Sleep quality is an important parameter of health-related quality of life in older adults and possibly correlated to continued adaptability in later life. Refreshing sleep may indicate proper functioning and can potentially address a variety of concerns in older adults. When awake, the central nervous system can lead to the accumulation of neuro-toxic waste; however, sleep can facilitate removal of these waste products. A restorative sleep is important for storing motor skills. Older adults suffering from disturbances in sleep can face its deleterious consequences during daytime function. In addition, the sleep disturbances may compromise their quality of life. A study on a population of over 9,000 older adults, 42% of the participants reported difficulty initiating and maintaining sleep with an annual incidence of 5 %. Despite such high prevalence and incidence, insomnia in older adults is frequently under-diagnosed, and as a result, it has been given little attention in spite of being a significant problem.
Several epidemiologic studies attribute the causes of sleep disturbances to medical co-morbidities rather than aging. However age-related changes in sleep for the adults aged above 60 years have been documented through polysomnographic studies. When evaluated by Polysomnography (PSG), geriatric individuals have recorded increased awakenings and reduced slow-wave sleep (SWS). Increased awakenings and reduced SWS are the most distinctive changes and are most consistently reported in other studies related to age-related changes in sleep. In comparison with younger individuals, wakefulness while sleeping occurs more often in the geriatric individuals. This occurrence is also true for older adults who are in good health, indicating that the disturbances in sleep can be associated with ageing. In many cases, even healthy older adults have no complaints of sleep disturbances or any other significant medical concerns. This shows that there are changes in their sleep architecture, as compared to their younger counterparts.
