Inadequate Sleep and Aging

Filed in archive Sleep Disorders , Studies on June 30, 2008

We all have sleeping problems as we age, right? I have observed from my parents and grandparents, that as they age, the sleep less and less. I hate to admit, but I think I am going in that direction.


© timsnell



Now...I can help bu think that the two are really are linked. But like the egg and chicken question: which one affects the other? Maybe either way is true, who knows?

Now, according to a mice study, Inadequate Sleep May Exacerbate Cellular Aging In The Elderly:

Researchers at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine have shown that the unfolded protein response, which is a reaction to stress induced by Sleep deprivation, is impaired in the brains of old mice.

The findings suggest that inadequate sleep in the elderly, who normally experience sleep disturbances, could exacerbate an already-impaired protective response to protein misfolding that happens in aging cells.

Boy! Aren't we in big trouble?! But one thing is for sure. Sleep is getting more and more difficult to catch and for sure we are all gonna age.