Why do you have such a hard time getting to sleep at night?
Turns out, it’s not just getting up to use the bathroom at night or worrying about things you need to do the next day — as we age, it does become harder and harder to get a good night’s sleep.
According to a newly-published report by UC Berkeley researchers, various biological changes in our brain wave patterns and neurochemicals can make getting some decent shut-eye as hard to achieve as sinking a hole in one!
But that doesn’t mean we need less sleep as we get older.
In fact, the lead author of this study says that without sufficient sleep, all of the body’s major organs and regulatory systems can’t work properly, and we become more susceptible to “nearly every disease killing us in later life.”
There are, however, some simple things you can do to make your nights more restful.
And they don’t involve taking any drugs — something that really won’t solve the problem, but can create a whole bunch of new ones.
But aging itself can also make that a more difficult proposition.
Ordinarily, our bodies’ timing mechanism (a.k.a. circadian rhythms) will wake us up during the day and help us get our ZZZ’s at night. But as we get older, Mander notes, our brains do a less thorough job of regulating the neurochemicals involved in that process.
Then there’s the lessening with age of what’s known as “slow wave sleep,” which affects the way information and memory stored in our brain cells moves from one section of the brain to another.
And that resulting lack of sleep, research has shown, can contribute to things like diabetes, obesity and heart disease, as well as depression and even dementia. And if you’re suffering from any of these ailments, that can also keep you awake — what another study author termed a “vicious cycle.”
That’s when many seniors turn to their doctors for some help, which could take you from the frying pan into the fire. Even lead researcher and UC Berkeley neuroscience Professor Matthew Walker isn’t one to recommend pharmaceutical remedies for the problem.
Because although these drugs can knock you out at night and make you believe they’ve helped, they really haven’t. Walker said not be “fooled into thinking sedation is real sleep.” Plus that, many are very heavy-duty, risky meds being prescribed “off-label” as sleeping pills.
But the choice doesn’t have to be just popping a dangerous drug or lying awake at night counting sheep (or whatever you count!). Although it might be asking too much to “sleep like a baby” again, there are plenty of natural ways to make your nights a lot more restful and refreshing.
For example:
- Switch off your computer, smart phone or e-reader 60 to 90 minutes before retiring for the night. The light many of these devices give off can zap your melatoninhe hormone your brain releases at night that helps you get to sleep.
- Enjoy some melatonin-boosting foods that include pineapple, bananas and especially tart cherry juice, which Louisiana State University found helped seniors to sleep an additional 84 minutes a night!
- Take a melatonin supplement before bedtime.
- Make sure to keep your bedroom as dark as possible, since even the low-glow from a television can interfere with your sleep.
- Avoid caffeinated beverages late in the day, as it takes around five hours just for your body to eliminate half of the caffeine you’ve consumed.
“Confirmed: Sleeping gets tougher as you get older” Kalyan Kumar, April 6, 2017, Tech Times, techtimes.com
