Yailine De La Cerda

Health 104

Getting Older, Sleeping Less

There are many causes of insomnia; they increase, as you get older. Many

people experience episodic insomnia, which, only occurs once in a while, but others

experience this every night. A survey showed that 42% of people aged 65 and older

had a hard time falling asleep as well as staying asleep. Insomnia is often overlooked

during checkups but it shouldn’t because it is a symptom not a diagnosis. It can

actually be a clue to other health problems.

There are different levels of insomnia. One is transient insomnia and it last

less than a month, another is short-term insomnia, which lasts one to six months

and the last kind of insomnia is when it lasts more than 6 months. Chronic insomnia

can cause many health problems like impaired cognition, confusion and

psychomotor retardation.

There are two types of insomnia, one is primary insomnia and the other is a

medical or psychiatric problem, which is more common. Primary insomnia occurs

during ones sleep, for example periodic limb movements. This can actually be an

early sign of Parkinson’s disease. The more common type of insomnia can occur as a

side effect of medication, having too much caffeine, alcohol, naps, jet lag and

especially blue light from electronic devices.

The more one worries about a sleep problem, the worse it can actually get. If

one wakes up in the middle of the night it is better to do something that will get you

distracted instead of worrying about not being able to fall asleep.