AsianScientist (Jun. 27, 2011) – Sleep complaints are common in later life, with nearly fifty percent of people older than sixty-five years reporting trouble falling or remaining asleep.
A study at the Western Australian Center for Health and Aging at The University of Western Australia (UWA) has found that difficulty falling asleep doubles the risk of depression in older men.
This research was part of the Health In Men Study (HIMS) that has been following a group of men living in Perth, Western Australia since 1996. Participants for the study were randomly selected from the electoral roll.
Of the 5,127 male participants, sixty percent complained of poor sleep. Eighteen percent of these reported difficulty in falling asleep, ten percent remained awake and seventy-two percent reported early morning awakening.
“We found a strong link between difficulty falling asleep and depression which cannot be explained adequately by reverse causality that is, that depression causes insomnia. We didn’t expect to find this result, so it took us by surprise,” said UWA Chair of Geriatric Psychiatry and Director of Research at the Western Australian Center for Health and Aging, Winthrop Professor Osvaldo Almeida.
“Excuse the pun, but our results are a wake-up call. I believe that clarifying what drives the association between sleep problems and depression should become an international research priority,” he said.
Also worrying is a possible link between the use of sleeping tablets and an increased risk of depression, consistent with data from the study. Almeida believes that addressing this issue may guide the development of prevention strategies to decrease the burden of depression in our society.
To promote good sleep, Almeida suggests older men pay particular attention to their pre-bedtime diet.
“If you are an older man, minimize liquid intake before sleep: avoid coffee, tea, soft drinks and chocolate late in the day. Don’t use alcohol as a sleeping aid. Exercise regularly. Make your bedroom quiet and dark and avoid watching TV in bed. If possible, keep a regular bedtime routine. And steer clear of taking sleeping pills for long periods of time.”
While the study only included men, Almeida says it is very likely that women experience the same sleep disturbances and that further studies are needed to confirm this.
The new study is published in this month’s edition of Journal of Affective Disorders and can be found at: Almeida OP et al. (2011) Complaints of difficulty to fall asleep increase the risk of depression in later life: The health in men study.
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Source: The University of Western Australia
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