SLEEP AFTER 50 YEAR OLD

 Sleep, this state essential to our balance, which allows us to restore our alertness, to replenish our energy stocks, our immune defences or to facilitate memorization, is changing over time.

This need of about 12 hours to 3 p.m. a day in a baby will stabilize in adulthood between 7 a.m. and 9 a.m.

There are small sleepers and heavy sleepers, it's like that, we're all different and the need for sleep to be fit during the day is specific to everyone.

Deteriorating sleep with age

From the age of 50, sleep will change. According to a widespread (and false) idea, our need for sleep will not decrease much with age; the need remains on average from 7 hours to 8 hours.

On the other hand, sleep will deteriorate in two main areas: its quality and rhythm.

Indeed, after 50 years, we find that the quality of sleep gradually deteriorates: need more time to fall asleep, more frequent and longer awakenings during the night, lighter sleep... all this causes a feeling of poor quality sleep, less "restorative".

At the same time, the sleep rhythm will also change. Indeed, the elderly will tend to go to bed earlier and earlier (50% of people over 80 years of age go to bed before 10pm). And since most also take long naps (more than 25 minutes, and sometimes several times a day), the rhythm of the night will be disrupted: fragmented sleep, early awakening with inability to go back to sleep...

All this contributes to living very badly his night and disrupting his recovery.

How can I sleep better?

Fortunately, simple solutions exist to improve your sleep and change your habits:

1) First of all, a little exercise! It is often said, but even 20 minutes (or more of course) of walking a day improves your sleep, especially because you go out. Natural light, essential for our good balance, is brighter and allows us to set our sleep rhythms on the biological schedule. To this can also be added some physical exercises, simple and gentle! And if the pains upset you, welcome them kindly, take care of yourself but do them!

2) Resuming a social activity (outings, friends, associative life...) will also allow to separate the day (time of activity) from the night (time of recovery). A better distribution of our activity rhythms is a factor improving our sleep.

3) A single nap per day, up to 25 minutes in the early afternoon so as not to interfere with the coming night.

4) We sleep better in a suitable environment: a room where the temperature does not exceed 17oC, where there is little or no light, with good bedding (bad bedding will reinforce any pain, which can cause awakenings or simply a lighter sleep and therefore less restorative).

5) Avoid the exciting (coffee, tea...) after 4pm, avoid overeating or drinking in the evening, avoid tobacco and alcohol in the evening (nicotine is a stimulant that delays sleep, increases nighttime awakenings, makes sleep lighter and alcohol, which certainly facilitates sleep by its sedative action, will promote sleep instability).

As we know, solutions exist. We can, by a simple awareness, change these little habits that we take without realizing it and which insidiously disturb our sleep.

How do I do that?

AGIR, implement these positive actions!

Trust yourself... Try!