Sleep is Crucial for Healthy Aging

Did you know that getting enough sleep is crucial to healthy aging? 

Sleeps Helps us Heal

Sleep helps our ability to concentrate, affects our mood, how well we heal and recover from physical problems and illness, how we handle stress and much more. Sleep is important at all ages but especially as we get older. 

The National Institute on Aging has great information on sleep. 

Highlights from NIA

Here are some of the highlights:

• Older adults need 7-9 hours of sleep every night

  • Medications and pain may make it harder to sleep

  • Poor sleep can lead to irritability, depression, memory problems and falls

• Ideas to get a good night’s sleep:

  • Follow a regular sleep schedule

  • Avoid late afternoon napping

  • Adhere to relaxing bedtime routine

  • Don’t read, use a computer or look at your phone before bed

  • Avoid large meals before bedtime

  • Stay away from caffeine late in the day

• Tips to help fall asleep:

  • Count to 100 very slowly

  • Mentally relax from toes, feet, ankles, etc.  all the way up to the head

  • Give yourself 20 minutes to fall asleep. If still awake and not drowsy, get out of bed. Get back into bed when drowsy.

• Contact your doctor if:

  • You’ve cleaned up your sleep hygiene and routine and after 3 weeks you still have problems falling asleep.

  • You always use sleep medications to fall asleep. These should not be used for long durations.

  • You have restless leg syndrome or other movement disorder.

  • You think you may have sleep apnea. 

Click here to read the entire NIA Sleep page.

Huberman Lab “Toolkit for Sleep”

Dr. Huberman of Huberman Lab has a “Toolkit for Sleep” blog post and podcast with lots of suggestions for getting better sleep. Andrew Huberman, Ph.D., is a neuroscientist and tenured Professor in the Department of Neurobiology at the Stanford University School of Medicine. He believes that “sleep is THE foundation of our mental and physical health and performance in all endeavors. Yet no one is perfect about sleep. The occasional night out or missing sunlight viewing here and there is not a big deal, so don’t obsess about that. However, if any of us drift from these and the other behaviors for too long, we start to suffer.”

Click here to read the entire post.

Some highlights:

• View sunlight by going outside within 30-60 minutes of waking. Do that again in the late afternoon, prior to sunset. 

• Wake up at the same time each day and go to sleep when you first start to feel sleepy. 

• Avoid caffeine within 8-10 hours of bedtime. 

• Limit daytime naps to less than 90 min, or don’t nap at all.

• If you wake up in the middle of the night  but you can’t fall back asleep, consider doing an NSDR (non sleep deep rest breathing) protocol when you wake up.

• Keep the room you sleep in cool and dark and layer on blankets that you can remove.

• Drinking alcohol messes up your sleep. As do most sleep medications.

• Kids (and indeed all of us) have changing sleep needs over time. Adjust accordingly.