Try: The most common causes of insomnia in older adults include #poor sleep habits and sleep environment examples of poor sleep habits are irregular sleep hours consumption of alcohol before bedtime and falling asleep with the tv on #pain or medical illness pain can keep you from sleeping well in addition many health conditions such as a frequent need to urinate arthritis asthma diabetes mellitus osteoporosis nighttime heartburn menopause and alzheimer alzheimer’s can interfere with sleep #medications seniors tend to take more medications than younger people combinations of drugs as well as the side-effects of individual drugs can impair sleep or even stimulate wakefulness #lack of exercise if you are too sedentary you may not feel sleepy or feel sleepy all of the time regular aerobic exercise during the day at least 3 hours before bedtime can promote good sleep #psychological stress or psychological disorders significant life changes like the death of a loved one or moving from a family home can cause stress anxiety or sadness can also keep you awake which can in turn cause more anxiety or depression #sleep disorders restless legs syndrome rls and sleep-disordered breathing such as snoring and sleep apnea occur more frequently in older adults #learned response people with a legitimate cause for having trouble sleeping, after suffering a loss for example, may lie in bed and try to force themselves to sleep eventually their bodies learn not to sleep even after your original reason for sleep disruption has passed the learned response of not sleeping can remain information references "sleeping well as you age helpful sleep tips for seniors" by lawrence robinson gina kemp and robert segal 2011 available at

Materials: n/a

Categories: Sage, Topic, Emotional Psychological, Medical Physical

Information: n/a

References: n/a

Keywords: Sleep insomnia sleep disorders exercise stress can’t sleep

*This information is listed as a Fact Sheet and is not explicitly medically licensed