Cantissimo Senior Living Blog

Sleep is essential for health, especially as we age. Many things can interfere with the sleep patterns of an adult. According to Sleephealth.org, "It is estimated that sleep-related problems affect 50 to 70 million Americans of all ages and socioeconomic classes." Sleeping is the time to rest and rejuvenate as the mind and body recover from a long hectic day. Studies have shown that older adults need to sleep for eight hours as sufficient sleep contributes to many facets of health and wellness.

Our bodies undergo several changes as we age, such as producing lower levels of hormones. As a result, we experience a reduction in slow-wave or deep sleep. When the body experiences this, it will produce melatonin, which means continuously experiencing difficulty sleeping, and waking up often during the night. Therefore, it is increasingly important as we age to ensure we get sufficient sleep.

Read on for 5 of the top benefits of getting a full night's sleep as an older adult:

Gathered around the patio table on a beautiful early autumn evening, talk with friends turned to caring for aging parents. Jan, whose mother lives independently several states away, related an all too familiar story.

"In our daily phone call, I asked Mom how she was doing. She told me she'd fallen the night before. She wasn't hurt but spent the entire night on the living room floor because she could not get up by herself. It wasn't until her friend came by for the usual morning coffee visit that she was able to get up."

"Thank goodness she wasn't hurt," I said. "But I thought she had a medical alert bracelet." Jan gave me an exasperated look. "She does! But she forgets she has it even though we talk about using it in that exact type of situation. When I reminded her that she should have used it, she said that she probably wouldn't have used it even if she had remembered. I asked her why, and she said then the EMTs would have to come, and that would be too much fuss."

Countless other adult children have had similar calls about issues with elderly parents. Excepting a catastrophic event, it's tempting to avoid the question of whether an older loved one should still be living on their own. Many older adults resist losing their independence, so their children are reluctant to suggest an assisted living option to avoid conflict or feelings of guilt.

Our physiology has equipped us with the ability to fight, flight, or freeze in the face of imminent danger. This natural autonomic response served us well in prehistoric times. After the danger was over, we settled back into a rest and digest, nervous system response. But today it’s a different story. Today’s stress creates dis-ease and sickness in mind, body, and spirit. Today, our stress-filled lifestyles, work schedules, poor postural habits, and weakened resiliency mean that the threats to our nervous system health are exponential. This leaves us chronically overstimulated and out of balance, causing tension and pain. Ask yourself these questions:

Generally speaking, your nervous system can be in overdrive just from the demands of your busy life and many responsibilities. Then, when an illness or injury occurs, your nervous system is stressed even further. These circumstances are less than ideal for optimal healing. 

A nervous system in overdrive causes anxiety, insomnia, poor digestion, muscles tense up, shallow breath depriving cells of much-needed oxygen. Blood pressure and heart rate increase as the body prepares itself for fight or flight. Stress hormones, adrenaline, cortisol, and noradrenaline are released into the blood system. Also, the brain-gut relationship stress triggers pain and bloating in the digestive tract, causing a foggy mind and lower mood. Stress weakens the immune system and increases blood sugar.

Imagine trying to recover from an illness or injury under these conditions? At a time like that, what the body really needs is time to rest and digest.

Reading is a wonderful hobby that keeps the mind healthy. Reading at any age has many benefits that include reducing stress, enhancing sleep, improving memory, sharpening decision-making skills, and delaying the development of diseases like dementia and Alzheimer's.

As we age, everyone has many different aspects of life and health to take care of. To live a long and independent life, it is necessary to preserve mental fitness. While this can be a challenge, there are lots of relatively easy and small things you can do daily to help accomplish this. Reading books of interest to you can help a lot in safeguarding your skills and abilities. Learn more about the rest of the benefits of reading in retirement below:

All movement should make you feel great during, after, and days later. You might feel that you have worked hard, but you really should not be in pain. Keeping your muscles strong is essential. Muscles are meant to be able to contract and release well to do their jobs effectively and efficiently. Does your workout routine create pain in your body?

The strongest muscle in the body, based on its weight, is the masseter (jaw muscle). With all the muscles of the jaw working together, it can close the teeth with force as great as 55 pounds (25 kilograms) on the incisors or 200 pounds (90.7 kilograms) on the molars. Amazing! And no wonder a tight jaw can so painful when it is locked tight! The truth is that your tight jaw and hip flexors are related through Red Light Reflex.

Should we accept pain as a normal part of aging?

Chronic tension/pain has become an epidemic across North America and the industrialized world. The US Department of Health and Human Services estimates that pain affects more Americans than diabetes, heart disease, and cancer combined. The question is, why?

Persistent or recurring pain is defined as pain lasting more than six months after the original tissue damage has healed. The research on chronic (persistent/recurring) pain is compelling. The annual cost to industrialized countries in health care resources and lost productivity is increasing every year. In 2017, the University of Michigan Health reported that the annual cost of treatment and lost productivity due to chronic pain in the USA was $635 billion.

Stress is a fact of life. We have all experienced it at some point in our lives. Stress can be a great motivator when you have a big project to deliver, and when your stress response is well-managed, stress ebbs and flows naturally with life circumstances. When sustained over an extended period, stress becomes dangerous and can lead to illness and disease. According to the Mayo Clinic, prolonged stress can lead to pain and tension, anxiety, poor sleep, fatigue, anger, depression, chest pain, and headaches.

COVID-19 has turned the entire world upside-down, and no group has been more affected than those over 55. With the higher risk of complications and death, older adults have a greater stake in this crisis than nearly all other groups. Many seniors have been forced to take stringent quarantine measures and other protective actions to avoid getting sick.

These efforts to avoid disease have created their own problems like feelings of anxiety, boredom, and possibly even depression. As a result, many want to know; how long will the current crisis last? Will it be over when an effective vaccine arrives? When will that occur? Some experts say one might be available in late 2020. Others are less optimistic.

Whenever this storm passes, we'll get back to normal. Or will we? Opinions vary about what "normal" will look like after the pandemic. Some are predicting a "new normal." What might that look like for older adults?