sleep Archives - Better Health While Aging

How You Can Help Someone Stop Ativan

Have you heard of Ativan (generic name lorazepam), and of the risks of benzodiazepines drugs in older adults? Is an older person you care for taking prescription medication for sleep, anxiety, or “nerves”?

Would you like an easy, practical tool to help someone stop a drug whose risks often outweigh the benefits?

If so, I have good news: a wonderful patient education tool has been created by a well-respected expert in geriatrics, Dr. Cara Tannenbaum. Best of all, a randomized trial has proved that this tool works.

As in, 62% older adults who received this tool — a brochure with a quiz followed by key information — discussed stopping the medication with a doctor or pharmacist, and 27% were successful in discontinuing their benzodiazepine. The brochure includes a handy illustrated guide on slowly and safely weaning a person off these habit-forming drugs.

This is big news because although experts widely agree that long-term benzodiazepine use should be avoided in older adults, getting doctors and patients to work together to stop has been tough. It is, after all, generally easier to start a tranquilizer than to stop it!

But through a patient education brochure, Dr. Tannenbaum’s team was able to make this tricky process much more doable for older adults, their families, and their doctors.

Why it’s important to try to stop lorazepam & other benzodiazepines

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How to Manage Sleep Problems in Dementia

by Leslie Kernisan, MD MPH

Sleep problems are common in Alzheimer’s and other dementias. They also commonly drive family caregivers crazy, because when your spouse or parent with Alzheimer’s doesn’t sleep well, this often means that you don’t sleep well.

To make matters even worse, not getting enough sleep can worsen the thinking or behavior of someone with dementia. Of course, this is true for those of us who don’t have Alzheimer’s as well: we all become more prone to irritation and emotional instability when we’re tired. Studies have also shown that even younger healthy people perform worse on cognitive tests when they are sleep-deprived.

Hence getting enough sleep is important, for people diagnosed with dementia, and for their hard-working caregivers. Now, sleep problems do often take a little effort to evaluate and improve. But as I explain below, research has found that it is often possible to improve sleep problems in dementia.

The key is to know what common causes to look for, and then come prepared to provide useful information to the doctor. In this article, I’ll cover:

Common causes of sleep problems in Alzheimer’s and other dementias,
How sleep issues should be evaluated
Proven approaches that help improve sleep in dementia
What to know about commonly tried medications for this problem

Common Causes of Sleep Changes and Problems in People with Dementia

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5 Top Causes of Sleep Problems in Aging, & Proven Ways to Treat Insomnia

by Leslie Kernisan, MD MPH

What should you do if an older person complains of not sleeping well at night?

Experts do believe that “normal aging” brings on some changes to sleep. (See this post for more on how sleep changes with aging.) Basically, older adults tend to get sleepy earlier in the evening, and tend to sleep less deeply than when they were younger.

So it’s probably not realistic to expect that as you get older, you’ll sleep as long or as soundly as when you were younger.

That said, although aging by itself does change sleep, it’s also quite common for older adults to develop health problems that can cause sleep disturbances. So when your older relatives say they aren’t sleeping well, you’ll want to help them check for these. Figuring out what’s going on is always the first step in being able to improve things.

And remember, getting enough good quality sleep helps maintain brain health, physical health, and mood.

In this article, I’ll cover the top causes of sleep problems in older adults. I’ll also tell you about what approaches have been proven to work, to help treat insomnia and sleep problems in older adults.

Last but not least, if you (or your older relative) have experienced the very common combination of waking up to pee at night and difficulty sleeping, I highly recommend listening to this podcast episode, which features a geriatrician who is an expert on this: 092- Interview: Addressing Nighttime Urination & Insomnia in Aging.

5 Common Causes of Sleep Problems in Older Adults

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How Sleep Affects Health, & Changes With Aging

by Leslie Kernisan, MD MPH

Sleep. Everybody needs it. Many of us don’t get enough of it.

These are common truths that almost everyone knows. But recently, I had the opportunity to learn quite a bit more about sleep, and how it affects health.

I came away convinced that sleep is a core pillar of health. It deserves more attention from us as doctors, and as individuals concerned about our own health or that of an aging relative.

I also know that sleep problems are very common among family caregivers, and among aging adults. So I was glad to learn more about sleep health, as this has the potential to really help people get through caregiving and aging challenges.

In this article, I’ll share some of the interesting facts I learned about sleep, including how it affects the health of the body and mind, and how it changes with aging.

You may also want to read the following related articles:

4 Things To Know About Sleep & Health

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Why it’s important to try to stop lorazepam & other benzodiazepines

Common Causes of Sleep Changes and Problems in People with Dementia

5 Common Causes of Sleep Problems in Older Adults

4 Things To Know About Sleep & Health

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