Seniors and sleep: Do we need more sleep as we age?

Sleep Health Foundation spokeswoman Dr Gemma Paech describes sleep as the third pillar of health, alongside diet and exercise.

For a long time though, sleep has been the poor cousin of the three, not attracting the same attention or public health campaigns like those aimed at tackling obesity and inactivity.

Dr Paech believes things are starting to change and sleep is earning its rightful place as an essential component of our health and wellbeing.

“Sleep often gets overlooked but it plays a role in every aspect of our health and wellbeing.  I want people to understand how important sleep is, and not take it for granted,” she says.

How important is sleep?

Harvard University’s HealthySleep website says sleep plays a critical role in immune function, metabolism, memory, learning, and other vital functions.

Sleep Health Foundation research shows four out of 10 Australians get insufficient sleep either daily or several days a week. Lack of shut-eye is known to affect mood, energy levels, productivity, weight and the likelihood of developing serious health conditions like diabetes, heart disease and hypertension.

Dr Paech says sleep is important for our health at any stage of life but particularly as we age, when we become prone to more illnesses.

“Sleep is quite an active process – we used to think it was a time when the body turned off and wasn’t doing much but there’s actually quite a lot going on. Certain hormones that are produced when we’re asleep help our bodies repair the wear and tear of daily life,” she explains.

Sleep is also critical to boosting our immune systems. During sleep, our immune systems produce and release proteins called cytokines, which target infection and inflammation. If we’re sleep deprived, our bodies don’t produce enough of these protective cytokines.

Do we need more or less sleep as we age?

According to the experts, the amount of sleep we need doesn’t change a lot as we get older. As a guide, people 65 and older generally need seven hours of sleep, while younger adults might need a bit more. The average for all adults is 8.25. But sleep needs vary; while some people can cope well with much less, some need much more.

The Sleep Health Foundation says what does change as we age is the type of sleep we get.

There are different stages of sleep (see breakout) and as we get older we get less of the one called slow-wave sleep (or N3), which is the deepest sleep.

Dr Paech says the pattern and timing of our sleep also change.

“Typically we take longer to get to sleep, wake up more often and wake up earlier,” she says.

Our internal body clock, or circadian rhythm, helps regulate our sleep at night and helps us stay awake during the day. Everyone has a slightly different circadian preference; some people might be night owls, preferring to stay up late at night, and others early birds, preferring to wake early in the morning. 

However, as we age our circadian rhythm tends to shift earlier, so older people will often get up earlier in the morning.

“That means older people can get tired in the early evening. They might also get more tired during the daytime, so do more napping. As a result their sleep becomes shorter. They might not sleep for seven hours in one hit, instead experiencing more fragmented sleep – for example, five hours at night, two hours during the day,” Dr Paech says.

These changes can be due to the ageing process but also lifestyle factors.