Aging Comes with Less Sleep

Young people require more shut-eye than the rest of us. Perhaps you remember being young, and even if you got the correct amount of sleep at night, you felt drowsy at certain times during the day? Mercifully, that sleepy stage does not stay forever. Studies have revealed that the older you get, the less sleep you need.
Just how much sleep each person needs seems to vary greatly. Some are just fine getting a few hours per night but others may still be groggy after eight hours worth. It seems to depend which study you read whether you are being warned about getting too little or too much sleep as an everyday American. The advice you get may drift to either side of the pendulum, so you just have to find some middle ground that is best for you and your sleep needs.
It is well known that as people get older they might have a harder time sleeping. They may be restless and can't seem to sleep during a good portion of the night. Researchers in the U.K. have attested that older people need less sleep. They even found that variations in sleep hours are common and healthy so long as sleepiness doesn't spiral out of control.
Scientists commenting on the findings maintain that "healthy aging appears to be associated with decreases in sleep duration and depth required to maintain daytime alertness." However they also warned that plenty of people experience sleep deprivation. This loss of attention caused by too little sleep can cause auto accidents and even death in elderly people.
From the study, analysts learned that sleep differences linked to age. They found when sleep study patients spent eight hours trying to sleep, the 20-30 year olds got about 7.23 hours of sleep. Those in the 40-55 group slept 6.83 hours and 66-82 year olds slept 6.51 hours. Also those in the older age bracket were less likely to be in deep sleep mode than their more youthful counterparts. So in effect, the older you become the less sleep you get and the less sleep you require.
The research also found that it took progressively more time for the older age groups to doze off. When the 20-30 year olds were in bed or trying to take a nap it took them 8.7 minutes to get to sleep, while it took 40-55 year olds 11.7 minutes and 14.2 minutes for the 66-83 group.
The quantity and quality of sleep an individual gets may affect both short and long-term health. But as people age they require less and less sleep. You can find suggestions about just how much sleep is optimum, it's kind of a personal thing. That said, the majority of adults should usually get between six and eight hours of sleep per night, but you knew that already, right?

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