Monday, 2 March 2015

TO KEEP YOUR MIND SHARP: DON’T SKIMP ON SLEEP

The health benefits of a proper night's rest have been shown to help numerous conditions, from hypertension to diabetes and depression. Now, increasing evidence points to the importance of good-quality sleep in keeping your memory and cognitive abilities sharp, too.

Experts recommend that older adults get seven to eight hours of sleep each night for overall good health and optimal functioning. Unfortunately, that may be easier said than done because sleep patterns change with age, and older individuals report more problems in getting to -- and staying -- asleep.

According to the National Institute of Health that nearly half of people aged 60 or older report insomnia. In addition, their sleep is not as deep as it was at a younger age, and they tend to wake more often during the night. Chronic pain, increased sensitivity to noise, and medical problems like obstructive sleep apnea and restless legs syndrome also rob older individuals of restorative sleep.

Sleeping Pill Precautions

Be aware that sleeping pills can affect your memory and cognitive abilities. This is particularly true with benzodiazepine-type sedatives, such as diazepam (Valium), temazepam (Restoril), lorazepam (Ativan), oxazepam (Serax) and alprazolam (Xanax and others). Medications in this class have been shown to increase the risk of cognitive impairment and delirium in older adults. Consequently, the American Geriatrics Society (AGS) recommends that drugs in this class not be used for the treatment of insomnia in seniors.

In addition, short-term memory loss has been linked to the over-the-counter antihistamine diphenhydramine (Benadryl), which is also an ingredient in sleep aids such as Tylenol PM and Unisom.

Newer sleep medications, including zolpidem (Ambien and others), eszopiclone (Lunesta) and ramelteon (Rozerem), have come under scrutiny because of reports that some people have experienced incidents like walking, eating or even driving while sleeping during the first few hours after taking the medication, yet having no memory of it the next day. As a further precaution, the FDA warns people who take zolpidem extended-release (Ambien CR) -- either 6.25 mg or 12.5 mg -- not to drive or engage in other activities that require complete mental alertness the following day because levels of the drug can remain high enough to impair these activities.



(Source:  Scientific American Health After 50 Alerts, 2 March 2015)

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