What's with all the Ageism in These Threads??

[delisen]

122. Actually older people tend to sleep less at night and worry about it-but it may be natural

I understand that some school systems are trying to rearrange high school schedules because research shows that teenagers naturally stay awake later and are sleepier in the morning.

Sleep research is still in its infancy but there does seem to be difference in sleep patterns due to age.

Artificial light also plays a role.

I found that 2-stage or 2-cycle sleep used to be the norm in England and Europe up to the 19th century when doctors began to advise sleeping 7-8 hours straight.

Before that families would retire at sunset and then awake around midnight and do chores, play, have sexual relations or whatever. They then went back to sleep and rose at dawn. Maybe this is more natural or maybe it had to do with farming, lack of electricity, need to tend fires.

There seems to be an epidemic of undiagnosed hypothyroidism in industrialized countries I do know that friends with hypothyroidism drink lots of coffee to stay awake, even in the evening and it does not keep them awake.

The recommendations for taking thyroid medication changed several years ago to include more people who just had slightly low thyroid functioning due to findings from the framingham study.
Personally I think lack of vitality should not just be accepted as a part of aging. I have known so many older people with incredible vitality--often they are the ones who walk everywhere or bicycle to work or dance regularly.