Sleep in the elderly

Demographic development has led to an increase in elderly and geriatric patients requiring sleep medicine. In principle, the same guidelines and procedures apply to elderly patients as apply for younger patients. However, there are physiological and pathophysiological differences in relation to the sleep of the elderly that should be given attention to avoid mistreatment, so that all medical professionals are able to give patients and health-conscious seniors better information about sleep medicine.Age-related changes in sleep, according to research so far, start before the age of 70 during middle and early senior age. Generally, electrical potentials in EEG signals decrease. Slow-wave sleep is reduced in healthy old age, especially in men, as few percentage points of the total sleep time (TST) as REM sleep, and sleep efficiency decreases slightly, TST does not change. Sleep is more fractured with more nonrespiratory arousals, and the time needed to fall asleep increases somewhat. Respiratory drive steered through blood CO2, and therefore loop gain after apnea, decrease slightly with aging. However, the elasticity of the tissue and musculature of the upper airways do too; thus, obstructive apnea and hypopnea show a slight physiological increase. Pathological changes in sleep in older people caused by, for example, the development of dementia, respiratory and cardiovascular diseases, and pain syndromes have not yet been sufficiently investigated in relation to sleep changes with healthy aging.