Vitamin D3 - What It Does For Your Body

Insomnia is the subjective complaint of poor sleep quality. Some may present one or more sleep disturbances, including difficulty falling asleep, difficulty maintaining sleep, early morning awakening, and unrefreshing sleep. These problems can result in daytime difficulties, including Survive In Bed Review fatigue, decreased concentration, inability to perform complicated tasks, and memory impairment. Table 1 lists DSM-IV criteria for classification of sleep disorders.Insomnia in the elderly is typically the manifestation of a variety of factors. 

Age-related physical changes, chronic illness, and depression can play significant roles in the etiology of insomnia. The normal sleep cycle consists of an intricate balance of alternating stages. Non-rapid eye movement sleep comprises stages 1 through 4 and is composed of progressive deep sleep. Rapid eye movement sleep is the fifth stage, which is a lighter sleep with more autonomic activity. In the normal, healthy adult, sleep begins with shortened periods of sleep stages 1 and 2. In the early part of the night the cycle progresses to deeper sleep stages 3 and 4, also known as delta sleep. 

In approximately one to two hours, Rapid eye movement sleep begins, with the cycle repeating every 90 minutes. Into the early morning hours, the periods lengthen, with continuing alternation with delta sleep cycles. Young adults usually spend about 75% of the night in Non-rapid eye movement sleep and the remainder in Rapid eye movement sleep.Older patients spend less time in the delta sleep stages and more time in stages 1 and 2, which may explain complaints of light sleep. A recent review stated that among persons age 65 and older, 25% of men and 40% of women describe themselves as light sleepers. Other alterations in the sleep cycle include shortened REM sleep and decreased total sleep time. 

These changes in the normal cycle may result in early morning awakening and frequent daytime fatigue or napping.  Insomnia complaints are 1.3 times higher in women than in men and increases with age. Selected techniques to improve sleep hygiene, stimulus control, and sleep restriction may be effective in inducing and/or maintaining sleep.Sleep hygiene informs of lifestyle and environmental factors that may contribute to poor sleep quality. It is often helpful to avoid the use of caffeine and nicotine four to six hours prior to bedtime and abstain from alcohol use prior to bedtime. Sleep-restriction therapy attempts to reduce sleep latency and sleep fragmentation by creating individualized sleep schedules. Relaxation therapy includes a variety of methods that may focus on physical relaxation

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