A study carried out
by Loughborough
University’s Clinical
Sleep Research Unit
and bed manufacturer
Sealy found that
British women lose
ten days’ sleep
a year. Men are not so
badly affected, but
still lose fi ve days.WOMEN
LOSE MORE
REST(^2018) I SAGA.CO.UK/AUG-MAG (^63)
Health
week before your fl u shot, your weakened
immune system will produce less than 50%
of the normal antibody response.’
Matthew Walker isn’t alone in his
passion for spreading the word about the
importance of a good night’s rest. ‘Poor
sleep is basically killing us,’ says Dr Mark
Winwood, director of psychological
services at AXA PPP healthcare. ‘In middle
to later age, it’s really bad for us because
evidence now suggests that it can lead to
cognitive decline and even dementia.
‘We should make sleep a priority. If I were
to say to you, “I’ve got something here that
could help manage your weight, reduce your
risk of Type-2 diabetes, heart disease and
stroke, make you happier, and your thoughts
clearer”, you’d say “Yes,” wouldn’t you?’
Unfortunately, sleep is one important
element of our daily lives that suffers as we
grow older, and can be diffi cult to get back
on track. ‘One of the most signifi cant
physiological changes with age is that our
sleep gets worse,’ explains Professor Walker.
Older adults fi nd it harder to stay asleep
and, when they wake up, it’s harder for
them to get back to sleep, too. ‘They also
The decrease in deep, restorative sleep
begins even in our thirties, and declines
from that point forward
suffer a loss of a particular type of sleep,
called deep non-rapid eye movement (NREM)
sleep,’ says Professor Walker. ‘The decrease
in deep, restorative sleep begins even in our
thirties, and declines from that point forward.’
There are many reasons for this problem.
These include pain, the side effects of
medications and more frequent toilet trips.
But, according to Professor Walker,
scientists have also discovered that the
areas of the brain that help to generate deep
sleep deteriorate with age.
‘We are now trying to develop brain
stimulation methods to restore some degree
of healthy, deep sleep to older adults,’ he
says. ‘The brain and body ill-health
associated with sleep decline in ageing is
not a trivial matter.’