You have more control over poor sleep patterns than you think. Did you know that exposure to screen light in the evening (TV, computers, e-readers, blue and green LEDs) contributes to poor sleep, including opting to go to bed later? It’s true: the human body produces chemicals regulating sleep according to input from light sources – including artificial light.
So even though days are getting shorter as we progress into Spring, we stay awake longer because of screen time. The negative toll from disrupted sleep patterns is particularly hard on senior health. Poor sleep quality affects everyone, but in seniors, it has more consequences, including inadequate immune system response and more susceptibility to disease.
Why Sleep is Important to Seniors
The modern human isn’t that much different on a cellular level from our primitive forbears. Cavemen followed seasonal light patterns. Then over one hundred years ago, we scheduled sleep according to factory shifts made possible by artificial light. Today, we expect our sleep to conform to our needs and demands, regardless of our bodies’ natural cycles.
But due to modern inventions we are now exposed to much more light at night. Who doesn’t watch TV in the evenings? Or catch up on email, browse YouTube or Ted Talks? And, most of my senior friends report changes in their ability to go to sleep or to stay asleep, as part of the aging process.
Waking up at 2 or 3 a.m., it’s tempting to turn on devices, especially Kindle and e-readers.The problem is that exposure to artificial light in the middle of the night makes it more difficult to get back to sleep. As many seniors can attest, the amount of sleep we obtain generally decreases and becomes more fragmented as we age.
People above the age of 40 or 50 produce little melatonin—that nighttime hormone that aids in sleep. There are huge variations depending on how much stress is in one’s life. After 65, you produce less melatonin.
Your body has a built-in diurnal rhythm, which is regulated by the daytime hormone cortisol. Cortisol governs your stress responses and the nighttime hormone melatonin, which is produced by the pineal gland. The more high-strung a person is, the more stress, and the more difficult it will be to fall asleep and sleep through the night.
On top of the biological component, there is the question of good or bad habits. I’ll dive in to that in another blog post. In the meantime, what do you think? What is your sleep pattern like? Have you noticed changes as you’ve aged? How much screen lights in the evening do you experience? Send us an email; we’d love to hear from you!
Recent Comments