Older people display more age-related sleep disorders including advanced sleep phased and reduced slow-wave sleep compared to younger individuals. Sleep disorders are common symptoms in older people and stimulate behaviors such as using caffeine, tobacco, and alcohol, poor sleeping habits as well as predisposes them to comorbid illnesses (Miller, 2015). Across all ages, diagnostic testing and management of insomnia or poor health patterns is a challenge that may even need lifestyle changes for the victims.
Diagnostic testing for rapid eye movement (REM) sleep disorder needs repeated incidents of sleep-related vocalization and complex motor behaviors. When they wake up, the older people with REM are always uneasy and can remember all the unpleasant dreams brought about by this disorder at the time they were sleeping. Restless legs syndrome (RLS) is movement disorder related to sleep, where the victims move over their legs and have abnormal leg sensation. The RLS diagnostic criteria include examining the urge of the patients to move their legs and any hostile sensations that worsen during the time of sensations, the symptoms are completely calmed by the movement (Zdanys & Steffens, 2015). The symptoms are seen in the evening or night where they are worse. Another type of sleep disorder is insomnia where the older people have difficulty with sleep initiation, and poor quality of sleep. Complains of insomnia are very common from people with the disorder. Psychological insomnia is shown by insufficient sleep hygiene, misperception of sleep, underestimating actual sleep time, depression, pain, or anxiety tendencies.
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Some treatments that are appropriate for people with common sleep disorders include both non-pharmacological strategies and pharmacological treatments. Sleep hygiene education should be the initial strategy since the development of appropriate sleep patterns advantages all sufferers of sleep disorders. Treatment for insomnia is needful if physical or mental diseases related with sleeping disorder are suspected (Rodriguez, Dzierzewski, & Alessi, 2015). Benzodiazepines should be hardly used if SATB2-associated syndrome ( SAS) is suspected, as they heighten sleep apnea. Good sleep hygiene comprises regular exercise and meals, avoiding stimulants like caffeine or tobacco, and ensuring that the sleep environment around the older people is comfortable. A cognitive behavioral therapy for sleep disorders is useful for elderly people. If left untreated, sleeping disorders may pose a negative effect on the quality of life of elderly victims.
References
Miller, M. A. (2015). The role of sleep and sleep disorders in the development, diagnosis, and management of neurocognitive disorders. Frontiers in neurology , 6 , 224.
Rodriguez, J. C., Dzierzewski, J. M., & Alessi, C. A. (2015). Sleep problems in the elderly. The Medical clinics of North America , 99 (2), 431.
Zdanys, K. F., & Steffens, D. C. (2015). Sleep disturbances in the elderly. Psychiatric Clinics , 38 (4), 723-741.
