I have a nagging suspicion that the Grim Reaper chases us down through various cunning means. One of his most insidious means is the trend towards declining quality of sleep as we get older. Studies show that sleep could have a more intimate connection to longevity that many of us realize. See the link below for more information.
I can’t cite any studies to back this up right now, but my intuition tells me that decline in quality of sleep is the root cause of many aging problems. It may bring on many of the symptoms we associate with aging. Decline in sleep quality may also reduce our immune system’s ability to keep us healthy and contribute to higher disease rates among aging people.
When we are young and in the peak of health, we take a great night’s sleep for granted. As we move into our 50s, 60s and beyond, great nights of sleep become rarer. When 20 somethings talk about lack of sleep; the theme is usually missing sleep because they were partying and/or romancing all night. Older people tend to talk about sleep more often and more seriously.
Despite the likelihood that sleep plays a substantial role in our overall healthy, we have made precious few advancements, during the past five or so decades, in improving sleep quality. Current advice on how to sleep better (emphasizing “sleep hygiene” etc.) could just as easily come from medical books written in the 1950s. Sleep research appears to lag far behind the enormous technology advances we’ve experienced during those decades.
I believe we, as a society, need to take sleep more seriously and discover ways to foster better sleep among our aging population. Better sleep equals better health. If we could maintain the youthful quality of our sleep into middle age and beyond, who knows how much healthier and longer lives we’d enjoy?
http://longevity.about.com/od/sleephealthandaging/a/sleep_duration.htm
Law of Attraction Mastery 