Why do older people get less sleep? How to adjust? Just do these 4 things!

If you have seniors over the age of 60 in your household, you will find that their sleep schedules are very special. Although they go to bed early every day, they also wake up very early. Some elderly people have already started to get up around 5-6 in the morning. For some elderly people, the total sleep time per day is only about 5 or 6 hours.

　　So the question is, why do you get less sleep in old age?

　　In fact, the decrease in sleep time of the elderly is mainly affected by two points. The first is the normal physiological response. Relevant research studies have shown that as people grow older, the time of deep sleep will gradually shorten, and the sleep cycle of the whole night will decrease.

　　At the same time, the physical function of the elderly declines, the metabolism gradually slows down , and the mental and physical activity decreases, so the sleep time of the elderly will also decrease. The normal elderly maintain 5-6 hours of sleep every day. In fact, there is no need to worry too much. ;

　　Second, when people enter the stage of old age, the functions of various organs and joints in the body will decline, so the elderly are easily attacked by various diseases, such as sleep apnea syndrome, restless legs syndrome, heart failure, arthritis and other diseases. Pulmonary diseases, cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases , etc.

　　Some elderly men will also experience prostatitis, benign prostatic hyperplasia and other problems, resulting in increased frequency of urination at night, body pain or other discomfort , which in turn affects sleep time.

　　In this case, the sleep time of the elderly is shortened, how to adjust it better?

1. Create a comfortable sleeping environment

　　The so-called sleep environment actually refers to two points. The first is to require the room to be dim , because bright lights often affect the secretion of melatonin, resulting in a decrease in sleep quality, so the elderly should create a dim and sleepy atmosphere before going to bed. .

　　The second is to keep the room absolutely quiet. The elderly have unstable sleep, so they should try to maintain a quiet environment around them, and avoid reading electronic products and novels before going to bed;

　　2. Don’t take a nap

　　Many elderly people fall into a misunderstanding about sleep, that is, the sleep time is short at night, which can be alleviated by supplementing sleep during the day. As everyone knows, the sleep that people need every day is very limited. If you sleep for too long during the day, especially for a long nap, it will directly affect the quality of sleep at night .

　　Therefore, for the elderly, if it is difficult to fall asleep at night and the sleep time is short, naps should be avoided as much as possible . If you need to take a nap to nourish your spirits, the sleep time should also be controlled within 30 to 40 minutes;

3. Exercise

　　There are three main benefits of exercise for the elderly. The first is to consume body fat through exercise and reduce the chance of obesity-related diseases. Second, exercise can help stabilize blood pressure, blood sugar and blood lipid index , and can play a role in preventing and treating cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases. Third, exercise can improve one's own sense of fatigue , which is conducive to sleep and improve sleep quality .

　　Therefore, the elderly should choose suitable aerobic exercise programs such as square dancing, park walking, brisk walking , etc., which are all good choices;

　　4. Adjustment before going to bed

　　If the elderly frequently go to the bathroom and urinate at night, they should not drink too much water before going to bed. Especially in the three hours before going to bed, if you are not thirsty, try not to drink more than 200ml of water . Because drinking too much water will increase the frequency of urination at night, and it is easy to cause edema.

　　Finally, it should be emphasized that the shortened sleep time of the elderly at night is actually a normal physiological phenomenon of aging, and there is no need for elderly friends to worry too much about this problem. However, if the quality of sleep is particularly poor, which has affected the normal life and activities during the day, in this case, you should seek medical advice in time, and then start targeted conditioning after finding the cause.