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4 reasons we find it harder to recover from little sleep as we get older
Ever felt like its harder and harder to bounce back after a couple of sleepless nights, as you get older? Do you find yourself missing the halcyon days when you could function as normal on a Monday, even after a big weekend? You’re not alone.
The Focus spoke to Dr Chelsea Perry, owner of Sleep Solutions and a member of the American Academy of Sleep Medicine and the American Academy of Dental Sleep Medicine, about why it gets harder to recover from little sleep as we get older. She says that, despite having had more time to develop coping mechanisms to manage the effects of sleep deprivation, older people have a reduced physiological capacity to recover fully.
4 reasons older people find it harder to recover after a bad nights sleep
Dr Perry recognizes that older people generally find it more difficult to bounce back from nights of little sleep, compared with younger people.
And its down to several factors related to aging. In other words, we have to surrender to biology on this one. But knowing whats going on might help reconcile ourselves to our limitations.
Dr Perry lists four reasons it gets harder to recover from sleep deprivation as we get older:
- Changes in sleep architecture
- Changes in our circadian rhythms
- Complex and chronic health issues
- Reduced homeostatic sleep drive
Digging a little deeper
As we age, says Dr Perry, our sleep tends to become lighter and more fragmented. This is what she calls a change in sleep architecture. Older adults often experience a decrease in deep sleep, or slow-wave sleep. This is the most restorative stage of sleep, so reducing it means less restorative sleep overall.
Second, aging can affect our circadian rhythms. Older people tend to go to bed earlier and wake up earlier. If these changes clash with others schedules or are in any way at odds with the patterns that surround us, they can lead to shorter sleep duration.
Third and most relevant to significantly older people health issues can interfere with sleep. Dr Perry highlights sleep apnea and restless legs’ syndrome as possible ailments that can complicate and hinder recovery from sleep deprivation. She also stresses that medications can interfere with sleep, meaning it can be harder to get back to normal after a couple of sleepless nights.
Finally, Dr Perry argues that older people have a reduced homeostatic sleep drive. This is the motivation to go to sleep, which builds towards the end of the day. She says it may weaken with age, which can lead to less compensatory sleep after a night of deprivation.
How much sleep is enough, and is there such a thing as too much sleep?
Age is an important factor in working out how much sleep someone needs. Other factors are overall health, the quality of sleep (hint: make sure your bedroom is the appropriate temperature for optimal sleep conditions), and what kind of activities one is undertaking during the day or night.
Mayo Clinic has the following recommendations for how much sleep someone should get per night, based on their age.
- 4-12 months old 12-16 hours per 24-hour period
- 1-2 years old 11-14 hours per 24-hour period
- 3-5 years old 10-13 hours
- 6-12 years old 9-12 hours
- 13-18 years 8-10 hours
- Adults 7 or more hours
Healthline has a handy sleep calculator with bedtimes based on: your required wake-up time; an ideal situation in which you slumber for either five or six 90-minute sleep cycles; and allowing 15 minutes to fall asleep. Find it here.
It can be difficult to maintain a rigid sleep schedule throughout the year, especially if you live at a latitude where the days become very long during the winter. If that wasn’t enough, scientists have already begun to predict that Earth days will one day be as long as 25 hours and that will eventually affect our circadian rhythm…
Its well known that skimping on sleep can be bad for you. But oversleeping can be problematic, too. Johns Hopkins lists the following health problems that are associated with regular oversleeping:
- Type 2 diabetes
- Heart disease
- Obesity
- Depression
- Headaches
- Greater risk of dying from a medical condition
That doesnt mean sleeping too much will make you sick; having a health problem in the first place will probably make you sleep more. So as long as you keep a weather eye on how much sleep youre getting, and try not to overdo it too much, it shouldnt be an issue.
