Aging-related sleep changes.
Normal aging is accompanied by changes in the sleep quality, quantity, and architecture. Specifically, there appears to be a measurable decrease in the ability of the healthy elderly to initiate and maintain sleep, accompanied by a decrease in the proportion of the deeper, more restorative slow-wave sleep and rapid eye movement sleep. There is epidemiologic evidence that this impaired ability to initiate, maintain, and ultimately achieve good quality, optimal sleep may be a marker of increased mortality and neurocognitive dysfunction. Possible mechanisms related to these age-related changes in sleep include age-related changes in circadian modulation, homeostatic factors, cardiopulmonary function, and endocrine function. This article describes the normal changes in sleep physiology in the elderly.
Division of Pulmonary, Critical Care, and Sleep Medicine, Saint Louis University School of Medicine, 3635 Vista Avenue at Grand Boulevard, PO Box 15250, Saint Louis, MO 63110-0250, USA. espiritu@slu.edu
Joseph Roland D
JR
Espiritu
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D002940:Circadian Rhythm / Q000502:physiology; D003071:Cognition / Q000502:physiology; D013006:Growth Hormone / Q000097:blood; D006801:Humans; D006854:Hydrocortisone / Q000097:blood; D017286:Polysomnography; D012119:Respiration; D012890:Sleep / Q000502:physiology*; D012892:Sleep Deprivation / Q000503:physiopathology; D007319:Sleep Initiation and Maintenance Disorders / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000503:physiopathology; D012893:Sleep Wake Disorders / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000503:physiopathology*; D012895:Sleep, REM / Q000502:physiology; D013997:Time Factors
D013006:Growth Hormone; D006854:Hydrocortisone