Ah yes, sad to say, we are all getting older. Of course it IS better than the only alternative offered. And as many of you have noticed – getting older brings with it a number of issues. Since this blog deals with the subject of sleeplessness it is logical to ask if sleep improves with age or does it become even more of a challenge? What follows is a discussion on the evidence available.

Insomnia is one of the most common sleep disorders and it is the “inability to get to sleep and stay asleep night after night.” Insomnia also involves intermittent wakefulness and early morning awakening. Although not technically considered a disease, insomnia can be very annoying to the individual suffering from it. If left untreated, insomnia can lead to sleep deprivation which can wreck havoc in an otherwise healthy adult’s life.

Insomnia affects people of both sexes and all age groups, although it is most common in women and senior citizens. According to the International Longevity Center, insomnia affects approximately one-third of senior adults and up to two-thirds of individuals over the age of fifty have one type of sleep problem or another (which is approximately 35 to 37 million senior citizens across the United States). The average senior citizen needs around 6 ½ to 7 ½ hours of sleep per night for proper functioning during the daytime.

Long-term insomnia means that both the body and brain are not getting a sufficient amount of rest which can usher in a host of other problems for the individual. Insomnia can either be short-term (transient) or long-term (chronic). Transient insomnia is common and temporary and generally is related to a stressful current event such as an impending divorce, a death in the family, a move, a vacation, anticipation about the arrival of a grandchild, etc. Transient insomnia is not a huge concern and generally gives way to only a few nights of tossing and turning. However when insomnia takes place over an extended period of time (such as many weeks) and is characterized by a number of nights grouped together where sleep is difficult then it has developed into a more serious form of insomnia- chronic insomnia.

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