Saturday, December 6, 2014

Five tips for better sleep for older people

The NYTs reports a link between anxiety drugs and memory problems, possibly even Alzheimers.

This is an excellent reminder that one of the best things older people can do to safeguard their health is to find non-drug solutions for sleeping problems.

Here are five tips for improving sleep.

1) reduce napping during the day

2) drink less alcohol (if you like two drinks in the evening, try one instead...)

3) get some exercise, if possible in the fresh air, but even cleaning house or going for a little walk is helpful, an age-appropriate Zumba or Yoga class could be a lot of fun - anything to move those bones!

4) do something that stimulates the mind - a conversation, a good book (a bad book!), a lecture, a movie, art, build or fix something, help someone...

5) if you are being woken up in the night and having trouble getting back to sleep, try to identify and eliminate the cause - earplugs if it's noise, less liquid if it's going to the bathroom, room temperatures, mattress etc....

Share your tips for good sleep!

1 comment:

  1. Took me time to read all the comments, but I really enjoyed the article. It proved to be Very helpful to me and I am sure to all the commenters here! It’s always nice when you can not only be informed, but also entertained!
    better sleep tips

    ReplyDelete