Getting Older Often Means More Sleep Problems

As you get older, the likelihood that you will develop or report sleeping troubles will increase. This is because as you age, your sleep patterns will change, requiring you to acquire sleep differently than you did when you were, say, 20 years old. Generally speaking, as you get older your sleep pattern changes in the following ways:

• You will likely sleep less than 7 hours at night
• Your sleep may feel less restful during the night
• You may be more inclined to nap
• The times that you go to bed and wake up will also likely change

As an adult, you should be averaging between 7-9 hours of sleep every day. These figures are extensively researched and you should be dubious when someone says that they can do fine with 5 hours of sleep. The key work here is 7-9 hours per day, not just at night.

When you are younger, you likely had little trouble getting 7-9 hours of uninterrupted sleep every night. But your sleep pattern changes as you age. Getting 7-9 hours of sleep, let alone even 5 or 6 hours, at one time may seem impossible when you get older.

While your pattern might change, your need for getting a certain amount of sleep won’t. So to get the full amount of sleep when you're only getting 4-5 hours at night, you might need to start supplementing your nightly sleep with a long nap or two, or by having two long periods of sleep at night with a break of several wakeful hours in the middle of the night. The point is that you will have to be more conscious of when and how you get your sleep.

These sleep changes happen for life reasons (stress, children, jobs), hormonal changes, and natural physiological changes that make you more susceptible to certain sleep disorders. Let’s look at some of the sleep disorders that are more common in older people.

What is Sleep Deprivation

Sleep deprivation is the chronic condition of not receiving adequate sleep. Adequate sleep will differ from person to person, and change as we age. Most of us suffer from sleep deprivation because we either have trouble staying asleep, or getting to sleep. Does that sound familiar?

It's also important to distinguish between short-term sleep deprivation, such as sleep deprivation caused by anxiety or stress that will soon pass, and long-term sleep deprivation, such as a chronic lack of sleep that may spread over months or years.

Sleep deprivation is usually followed by sleep binging (i.e. on the weekends) before the cycle of sleep deprivation starts over. Chronic sleep deprivation is has a strong link to depression. One of the common signs of insomnia and sleep apnea, for example, is depression.

What is Sleep Paralysis?

Sleep paralysis is an episode where you can’t move your body or speak directly after or directly before sleep, and while you are conscious. It is part of a collection of sleep disorders called parasomnias, which simply indicates that your sleep has some kind of general disruption. In the case of sleep paralysis, your body has trouble transitioning to and from sleep.

During an episode of sleep paralysis you will be:

• Unable to move
• Unable to speak
• Able to move your eyes
• Conscious

Sleep paralysis may be chronic, periodic, or isolated. It can range from confusing to terrifying. Episodes typically last anywhere from a few seconds to a couple of minutes, and sometimes (though uncommonly) may last longer than two minutes.

Though sleep paralysis can be scary, it’s not dangerous.

Why Light Extremes Can Cause or Worsen Insomnia

For those living in Alaska, it’s no secret that we are operating under “unique” circumstances in summer and winter, either a lot of sunlight or a lot of darkness respectively. Though it might seem counter intuitive, the amount of excess darkness, which is significant in the Southeast and oppressive in the Far North, actually makes sleep more difficult for many people.

Why?

The excess darkness is extremely disruptive. It disrupts your ability to get daylight and to be physically active. It can also disrupt your hormone levels. The result: there are many ways for your circadian rhythm to be affected.

Definition of Restless Leg Syndrome (RLS)

Restless leg syndrome (RLS) is a nervous system disorder that causes uncomfortable feelings in your legs, making you want to move them. The discomfort of RLS is usually enough that it interferes with sleep (causing sleep deprivation), therefore classifying it as a sleep disorder.

What is the Real Purpose of Sleep Study?

Sleep studies are important diagnostic tools for common sleep disorders like sleep apnea, insomnia, circadian and rhythm disorders. Sleep studies have proven to be particularly important in Alaska where the extreme darkness and lightness tend to either cause or worsen sleep disorders.

Sleep studies are non-invasive and painless. They monitor:

• Brainwave activity
• Eye movement
• Muscle movement
• Heart activity
• Breathing
• Blood oxygen level

For our sleep studies, you will conduct it overnight at our facility. The results from the sleep study will help either provide a diagnosis or clarify what (if anything) may be causing concern.

Should I Be Worried I Have a Sleep Disorder?

Some sleep disorders are actually fairly common and they all have one similarity: they disrupt healthy sleep.

Chronic sleep disruptions have the uncanny effect of making you the “less optimal” version of you. Sometimes, chronic sleep disruption can even make you feel and behave like a completely different person.

If you are reading this, you might be wondering if you have a sleep disorder or problem. Here are causes and symptoms of the most common sleep disorders.

What is a Sleep Debt?

You’ve probably heard of the term “sleep debt.” It’s the term that refers how much less sleep you are getting than what you should be getting. The idea is that over time, a “sleep debt” forms that you need to get extra sleep to “pay back” your debt. To list it more succinctly:

• Your body requires a certain about of sleep, which is different depending on your age
• As you get less sleep than required, you become sleep deprived
• This sleep deprivation causes a “debt” which you have to “pay” by sleeping more than the required amount

For example, if you should be sleeping 7 hours per night, and the last three nights you have slept 6 hours each night, then your “sleep debt” would be 3 hours. It’s important to understand sleep debts because they are more complex and nuanced than the above bullet points.

Even the term “sleep debt” is a bit misleading because you can’t “repay” a sleep debt like you repay a loan. Namely, you can’t just get a bunch of sleep one night and repay your sleep debt. It doesn’t work this way.

Why Alaska is Tough on Sleep

Living in Alaska poses unique sleeping challenges most months out of the year. Other than a few months out of the year between “spring” and “fall” in Alaska, we are dealing with darkness that lasts most, or all, of the day, or light that lasts most, or all, of the night.

These extreme light conditions present sleep challenges that are:

• Sociological
• Psychological
• Physiological
• Habitual

These challenges may come from changes in physical or social habits, mental responses to the extreme lighting conditions, or habits that change with the darkness. The two main challenges for people living in Alaska are:

• Insomnia
• Circadian rhythm disorders

Let’s look at how extreme light in Alaska poses these two risks.

Why Would I Need a Sleep Study?

Sleep studies are important diagnostic tools for common sleep disorders like sleep apnea, insomnia, circadian rhythm disorders. Sleep studies have proven to be particularly important in Alaska where the extreme darkness and lightness tend to either cause or worsen sleep disorders.

Generally, sleep studies are used when:

1. You feel there are major “red flags” in your ability to get healthy sleep but don’t know what the problem is
2. You need to confirm a specific sleep disorder diagnosis

Sleep studies are non-invasive and painless. They monitor:

• Brainwave activity
• Eye movement
• Muscle movement
• Heart activity
• Breathing
• Blood oxygen level

In a sleep study, you will conduct your sleep study over night at our facility.