We spend a third of our lives asleep, and it’s as important as food, water or air to our survival. One of the most popular evidence based theories about why sleep is so important is that it’s critical for allowing the body to grow, repair and rejuvenate itself. Sleep is vital for memory consolidation as well as supporting normal immune function and healing after injury or disease.
COVID pandemic has unleashed an indirect pandemic that is sleep disorders are on rise in every part of world. Major signs of poor sleep quality include feeling sleepy or tired even after getting enough sleep, repeatedly waking up during the night, and having symptoms of a sleep disorder (such as snoring or gasping for air)
There are several sleep issues that are especially common in senior citizens medical and social. But I will talk about social issues first.
Social Conditions
- According to website of WHO “Noise is an underestimated threat that can cause a number of short- and long-term health problems, such as for example sleep disturbance, cardiovascular effects, poorer work and school performance, hearing impairment, etc. Noise has emerged as a leading environmental nuisance in the WHO European Region, and the public complains about excessive noise more and more often”. In addition to noises due to vehicles, nowadays use of loudspeakers in marriage and other functions is common in all localities, what we increasingly see is use of DJ music system in marriage functions, people hardly think of infants and old. So let us not underplay this important cause which is increasingly becoming constant in our lives.
- Internet Phone calls. Many work outside India, that is fine but timings in many countries and our country are totally different, for example America and India or New Zealand and India. It is sad that many a times children working abroad do not realize this. I was sad to see many of patients telling me that they have to keep their phones on at odd hours as children settled will call. I am sure their children do not mean anything bad but they need to realize that in addition to love we give our parents they also need 8 hours of sleep. All of us know that data is very cheap as compared to other places, so online calls have become frequent than phone calls, again nothing bad but let us try to talk with parents when they have time and not when we have free time. When senior citizens keep data on 24/7 then they also get various advertisement and spam calls.
- Loneliness. We all are humans and make mistakes but we need to rectify them as we notice them. It is a fact that many of our senior citizens have lost family members, siblings, friends and are feeling lonely in their absence. Let us try to keep them in touch with living companions of their life as well as taking pleasure when they play, interact with our children [and their grandchildren], they are their HUMAN PLACEBOS with no side effects.
- Lack of Hobbies. While some parents have retired from their jobs, but we must keep in mind they let us not retire them from hobbies. If their health permits they can teach poor children for free, advice your gardener how to take care of vegetables and flowers. Let us not force premature retirement of their hobbies. Our senior citizens are treasure houses of knowledge, and encyclopedias of experience. Not only encourage them to take self care, encourage them to cut and eat fruits be it apples or peaches, such behaviors increase their self respect.
- Senior Citizens and Children. Now here is my humble request to all senior citizens reading this article, while children should realize parents are getting older, parents also need to acknowledge their children are also not getting any younger. Both children and parents should consciously remind themselves of these stark realities of life, and strike a fine balance. I do understand children have more responsibilities.
Medical Conditions
Disorders that commonly affect sleep in older people include many medical conditions like depression, anxiety, which most do not treat or poorly controlled heart disease, diabetes, and conditions that cause discomfort and pain, such as arthritis. Many senior citizens do suffer from enlargement of prostate gland. The relationship between physical health and sleep is complicated by the fact that many older adults are diagnosed with more than one health condition. Those with multiple health conditions are more likely to report getting less than six hours of sleep, having poor sleep quality, and experiencing symptoms of a sleep disorder. A new study suggests that getting less than five hours of sleep a night may raise the risk of developing depressive symptoms.
Researchers estimate that between 40% and 70% of older adults have chronic sleep issues and up to half of cases may be undiagnosed. Chronic sleep problems can significantly interfere with older adult’s daily activities and reduce their quality of life. I would add that psychiatric disorders in Kashmir be it Anxiety, Depression are common and we the children should also take treatment instead of avoiding it.
We all know how to sleep well but I do add a tip for our worries.
Make a list of the tasks you need to do tomorrow and all the things you’re currently worried about. You can even put it with your sleep log or start a bullet journal, which you can use to organize all parts of your life. If it’s useful, ask yourself some questions, such as “How much will this worry matter tomorrow?”
Conclusion
We need to treat both social and medical conditions not geriatrics. Psychologists, medical doctors should work closely but our society also needs to actively participate.
(Author is a medical doctor and can be reached at: can be mailed at: [email protected])
