Impact of Poor Sleep on Physical and Mental Health in Older Women

Abstract

Many aspects of sleep and circadian rhythms change as people age. Older adults usually experience decrease in sleep duration and efficiency, increase in sleep latency and fragmentation, high prevalence of sleep disorders, and weakened rest-activity rhythms. Research evidence suggests that women are more likely to report aging-related sleep problems. This review presents epidemiologic and clinical evidence on the relationships between sleep deficiency and physical and mental outcomes in older women, explores potential mechanisms underlying such relationships, points out gaps in the literature that warrant future investigations, and considers implications in clinical and public health settings.

Improvements in Sleep Quality and Duration Following a Meditation Retreat: an Open-Trial Pilot Study

“…In comparison to males, the overall female population showed a greater impact at D40, while the population over 36 showed consistently better sleep quality at D40 in comparison to the 18-35 age group. This is significant considering how various studies show that sleep duration and quality both deteriorate with age [2,6,29,30]. The sleep duration for all groups increased significantly.…”

“…Many studies suggested that sleep problems could be seen among school-going youngsters of age 10-17 years as well as among the population over 50 years of age [2][3][4]. Sleep is one such autoregulatory mechanism of the body, essential to perform many vital physiological functions such as development, clearing of brain waste, and modulation of the body's immune responses [5], and hence deprivation of this function increases the risk of disorders like stress, anxiety, depression, obesity, hypertension, dyslipidemia, diabetes, cardiovascular diseases, cancer [6] and can potentially lead to substance abuse and even suicidal ideation. At the same time, efficacious behavioral treatments such as mind-body therapies, biofeedback, guided imagery, hypnotherapy, mind-body movement, meditation, relaxation techniques, yoga, and even spiritual practices or other contemplative techniques, that help reduce stress and improve sleep exist alongside pharmacological management of insomnia and sleep disturbances [7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15].…”

Prevalence and correlates of total sleep time among the older adults during COVID-19 pandemic in Bangladesh

“…This would mean that this inappropriate sleep duration likely have a significant impact on the health status among older adults. Several studies indicate that both shorter sleep and longer sleep can act as risk factors for several chronic diseases such as hypertension, coronary heart disease, and stroke [23 , 24] . It has been well documented that COVID-19 related morbidities and deaths are higher among the people who are suffering from chronic diseases [25] , therefore sleep disturbances could further deteriorate the condition through aggravating the chronic diseases.…”

The Relationships between Sleep and Mental and Physical Health of Chinese Elderly: Exploring the Mediating Roles of Diet and Physical Activity

“…A number of studies have identified significant changes in sleep structure with aging [ 8 ], including age-related changes in sleep patterns (decreased total sleep time and efficiency, lower percentage of rapid eye movement sleep, and less slow-wave sleep) and disturbances (increased night-time spent awake after sleep onset) [ 9 ]. In older women, short sleep duration, insomnia, poor sleep quality, and other sleeping disorders have been related to a series of physical and psychological impairments [ 10 ]. Sleep deprivation causes oxidative damage in the brain [ 11 , 12 ] and increases lipid peroxidation [ 13 ]; it may also contribute to depression, a likely outcome given the known effects of sleep on brain structure, neurogenesis, and hippocampal function [ 14 , 15 , 16 ].…”