Caregiver Challenge: Dealing with Night-Waking

Night-waking—awakening throughout the night after going to sleep—isn’t a problem reserved for the very young. As we age, the issue resurfaces—and is quite common. “It’s actually considered normal to wake up four to five times a night once a person reaches age 65 or 70,” says Frank. S. Coletta, M.D., a specialist in geriatric pulmonary medicine and the director of the Center of Sleep Medicine at South Nassau Communities Hospital in Oceanside, NY. The reason? The area of the brain that controls sleep ages right along with the rest of our body and therefore doesn’t work as well as it did when we were younger. At the same time, elder folks simply don’t require as much sleep as they used to. “Seniors often average six to seven hours instead of the eight hours needed by those under 70,” Dr. Coletta says. However, if sleep is interrupted more than five times nightly or if you cannot initiate sleep within 30 minutes of a wake-up, a problem may be present.

“Alcohol, caffeine, certain medications or medical conditions such as congestive heart failure, chronic pain and prostatism, a bladder problem, can cause these sleep issues in the elderly,” Dr. Coletta says. “Here, treatment would include avoiding alcohol and caffeine, identifying and removing the offending medications, as well as medical treatment of the underlying diseases.”

Another major cause of problematic sleep is dementia. “With senility, a patient loses control of his or her sleep-wake cycles, meaning he or she may sleep during the day and therefore much less at night. This often makes the person more and more sleep-deprived, leading to further inability to maintain proper sleep,” Dr. Coletta says. Medications can sometimes help in these circumstances.

Moreover, no matter one’s age or reason for sleep issues, good sleep hygiene is a must. “It’s important to go to bed and wake up at the same time every day, engage in something relaxing prior to bedtime, avoid watching TV or looking at the computer in bed, exercise daily and maintain a sleep-inviting environment, such as having a dark bedroom with no noise. All of this will help ensure better sleep,” Dr. Coletta says.