Electroencephalographic sleep in the healthy "old old": a comparison with the "young old" in visually scored and automated measures
Article Abstract:
The subjects studied in sleep laboratories have primarily been young. When older subjects have been used, they have tended to be the young old, meaning people in their sixties and seventies. Given the increased interest in the literature regarding the sleep problems of the frail elderly, and the growth in numbers of people fitting this description, sleep studies need to be conducted with subjects in their eighties and nineties. Volunteers in the present study were 44 men and 54 women, 27 of whom were aged 80 to 91, 43 of whom were aged 70 to 79, and 28 of whom were aged 62 to 69. All were healthy and living in the community. Subjects kept a daily sleep-wake log for two weeks prior to a laboratory session. In the laboratory session subjects were monitored for three nights using polysomnography, which consists of various physiological and neurological measurements taken during sleep. Based on evaluation of age and sex effects in the data for young old and old old subjects, four major findings emerged. Overall sleep efficiency did not vary with age, nor did the characteristics of the REM (rapid eye movement) stage of sleep, but the slow-wave sleep stage decreased with increasing age. The latter was true for men more than for women, but there were no sex differences in REM sleep. Aging men maintained sleep states better than aging women, and aging women had a longer period between REM sleep and other stages. The results suggest that good sleep efficiency is possible late in life, and it is speculated that this ability may be enhanced by maintaining health. Sex differences were unexpected, and no speculation as to their meaning was attempted. (Consumer Summary produced by Reliance Medical Information, Inc.)
Publication Name: Journals of Gerontology
Subject: Seniors
ISSN: 0022-1422
Year: 1991
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Age and sleep modify finger temperature responses to facial cooling
Article Abstract:
Finger temperature cooling in response to local cooling of the face was examined in 19 healthy 80-year olds and 27 20-year olds across a night of sleep deprivation and a night of sleep three nights later. Results showed that finger temperature decreased more in the young than in the old after facial cooling. Responsivity during non-REM sleep was comparable between the two groups.
Publication Name: Journals of Gerontology
Subject: Seniors
ISSN: 0022-1422
Year: 1993
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Age wise: aging well by sleeping well
Article Abstract:
This article examines factors associated with insomnia in a sample of European adults. Findings indicate that life satisfaction and social activity have a bidirectional relationship with sleep quality and that restricting time spent in bed and developing healthy sleep practices can help prevent insomnia.
Publication Name: Journal of the American Geriatrics Society
Subject: Seniors
ISSN: 0002-8614
Year: 2001
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