Knowing My Retirement

Fifty years ago conventional scientific wisdom was that the need for sleep declined gradually but consistently across the lifespan. By the time adults approached their retirement years, according to this view, five or six hours of sleep each night could be both normal and adequate.

Current understanding of older adult needs for sleep point in just the opposite direction. From ages 35 to 85 we lose on the average of an hour of sleep per night. But according to psychologist Sean Drummond, a sleep expert at the University of California, San Diego, “The biggest, most common, most robust change is that we spend more time awake in the middle of the night.” Having periods awake during the night indicates a decrease in sleep efficiency, but does not indicate a decreased need for sleep.

The effects of lack of sleep can mimic the effects of aging, making our brains less able to learn and recall facts. Drummond found that it was not the quality of sleep, but the actual number of hours of sleep that improved performance of older adults on memory tasks. Lack of sleep effects brain performance in ways similar to aging. And Drummond speculates that getting an adequate quantity of sleep can prevent aspects of the cognitive decline that accompany growing older.

Learning and memory seem particularly sensitive to adequate sleep. “It’s critical to sleep before learning. Sleep almost prepares the brain like a dry sponge to soak up new information,” according to Dr. Matthew Walker of the University of California at Berkeley

Further, getting enough sleep is likely to contribute to longevity, support the immune system, support healthy metabolism, and foster other restorative functions like muscle growth, tissue repair, protein synthesis and hormone release according to the Division of Sleep Medicine at Harvard Medical School. Sleep has also been found to retard the development of Alzheimer’s Disease and reduce the pain of arthritis.

In one article we cannot cover all the positive benefits of sleep for those of us who are retired. But remember getting enough sleep can make us smarter, healthier, and even better looking. Seven, eight or even nine hours of sleep a night, every night, is the prescription. And a cat nap during the day can have the same helpful results. Don’t be so concerned if you wake up in the middle of the night and need to walk around, snack, or read for a little while. Go on back to bed. Remember for older adults, the quantity of sleep can be even more important than the quality. Happy dreams!

Read the Science News article here

Read the Harvard Sleep Center article here

–Stay healthy and you’ll stay sharp
We have all had a “senior” moment where a name won’t come to mind, or we walk into a room and can’t remember why. Some forgetfulness is normal. Short-term memory usually declines more rapidly than long-term memory.

But it is possible to hold off, and even prevent cognitive decline that often accompanies aging. What may not seem obvious is that working on general physical health is one of the tools we can use to give a big boost to brain health, and to maintaining cognitive function.

A research article entitled, “Predictors of Maintaining Cognitive Function in Older Adults (Neurology, June, 2009) reported that adults from age 65 to 73 who did NOT show signs of cognitive decline duing this age range shared many of the following characteristics:

Regular Exercise
Moderate alcohol consumption
No Smoking
They worked or volunteered (less than 55 hours per week!)

And they were less likely to:

be overweight
have high blood pressure
have diabetes

On the surface, these characteristics seem to be just good old advice about being healthy. But it turns out that a HEALTHY BRAIN goes along with other aspects of physical health. Exercise, lose weight, control blood pressure and diabetes, participate in meaningful activity outside the home. You’ll stay smarter. It’s something to think about…