Healthy adults need less sleep as they age
Finding that you need fewer ZZZs?
Most healthy older adults need less sleep and tend to be less sleepy during the day than healthy younger people, according to a new study in the February issue of the journal SLEEP.
Results of the study showed that older adults slept about 20 minutes less than middle-aged adults, who slept 23 minutes less than young adults. The number of times older people woke up in the night increased and the amount of deep sleep decreased significantly, the report said.
Yet, this didn't seem to be a problem for the older folks without sleep disorders.
When all ages were disrupted multiple times during the night, everyone had the same reaction -- daytime napping.
"Our findings reaffirm the theory that it is not normal for older people to be sleepy during the daytime," said principal investigator Derk-Jan Dijk, professor of sleep and physiology at the University of Surrey in the United Kingdom, in a statement. "Whether you are young or old, if you are sleepy during the day you either don't get enough sleep or you may suffer from a sleep disorder."
The study was conducted at the Clinical Research Centre of the University of Surrey and involved 110 healthy adults without sleep disorders or sleep complaints.
So, are you a daytime napper? do you feel you need a little less sleep as you have aged?
Associated Press file photo of woman sleeping at an airport
