How did you sleep last night?
Not great, if you’re like many Americans: The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that 35% of American adults don’t get enough sleep on a regular basis.
This is more than just annoying, because getting less than seven hours of sleep each night is linked to an increased risk of obesity, diabetes, high blood pressure, heart disease, stroke, and frequent mental anguish.
And the problem is particularly acute among older people, who often battle sleep disorders. Older adults need between seven and nine hours each night, like all adults.
But older people tend to go to bed and get up earlier than when they were younger, according to the National Institute on Aging.
And sleep problems among older people can be exacerbated by experiencing pain, having an illness, or taking certain medications.
Most research on sleep problems has focused on physical and behavioral factors, although environment is just as influential, Dr. Amir Baniassadi of the Hinda and Arthur Marcus Institute for Research on Aging explained in a news release.
To understand the link between bedroom temperature and sleep quality, Baniassadi and colleagues at Hebrew SeniorLife (an affiliate of Harvard Medical School) collected data on nearly 11,000 individual nights of sleep experienced by 50 older adults.
The findings, published in the journal Science of the Total Environment, revealed that sleep is more efficient and restful for older adults when nighttime ambient temperatures range from 68 degrees Fahrenheit to 77 degrees. NY Post
Researchers have found the ideal temperature range for restful sleep.Getty Images
Using wearable sleep monitors and environmental sensors, the researchers monitored sleep duration, efficiency, and restlessness over an extended period of time in participants’ homes.
The findings, published in the journal Science of the Total Environment, revealed that sleep is more efficient and restful for older adults when nighttime ambient temperatures range from 68 degrees Fahrenheit to 77 degrees.
In addition, the researchers observed a general trend: a 5% to 10% drop in sleep efficiency as ambient temperatures increased from 77F to 86F.
“These results highlight the potential to improve sleep quality in older adults by optimizing home thermal environments and emphasize the importance of personalized temperature settings based on individual needs and circumstances,” Baniassadi said.
Individual preferences are also an important consideration, as the research also revealed significant differences between study subjects when it came to optimal bedroom temperature; in other words, some like it hot, while others prefer to keep it cool.
A poor night’s sleep could be the result of a room that is too warm or too cold. Getty Images/iStockphoto
There is a significant difference between people in terms of what the ideal sleeping temperature is. Getty Images/iStockphoto
That’s one reason many couples have given themselves a “sleep divorce,” sleeping in separate beds (much like the 1960s comedy couples) or even in separate rooms.
“There are benefits for some couples to sleeping separately,” Dr. Erin Flynn-Evans, a consultant to the American Academy of Sleep Medicine, told CBS News. “Studies show that when one bed partner has a sleep disorder, it can negatively affect the other sleeper.”
A recent AASM survey showed that couples are using strategies like earplugs, eye masks, silent alarms, and different sleep schedules to accommodate each other and ensure a good night’s rest.
But more than a third of those surveyed skipped all these stopgap measures and chose to put a wall between themselves and the source of their problems: their spouse.
Other tips for getting a good night’s rest include avoiding late-night eating and drinking, avoiding alcohol, and not drinking caffeine late in the day.
The authors of the room temperature study plan to continue this line of research by focusing on the potential impact of warmer weather on the sleep of low-income older adults and by developing interventions to optimize sleep environments for these individuals.
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Source: vtt.edu.vn