Longevity Conferences 2023
Curated list of Longevity Conferences, where you can explore the latest research and developments in the field of aging and longevity.
Sleep issues are linked to various symptoms, from anxiety and Alzheimer's disease to cardiovascular disease and obesity.
Snoring, insomnia, sleep deprivation, sleep apnea… Almost half of the adult population experiences some kind of sleep issue. This global epidemic threatens not only the health and quality of life but is also one of the causes of injuries and death in sleep-related accidents. In the United States alone, sleepy drivers are involved in 100,000 accidents yearly. Several of the most infamous workplace accidents are directly or indirectly linked to sleep deprivation, from the Chernobyl nuclear plant meltdown to the Space Shuttle Challenger explosion.
Sleep that puts each day to rest. Sleep that relieves the weary laborer and heals hurt minds. Sleep, the main course in life's feast, and the most nourishing."
William Shakespeare, Macbeth.
Both everybody's personal experience and medical studies unanimously conclude that sleep is one of the vital components of well-being and health. This is even more valid for the longevity that is associated with regular sleep patterns and maintenance of the deepest phase of sleep - slow-wave sleep (1). Sleep health, creating and maintaining sleep of adequate length and quality, is crucial for healthy living. Sleep disorders or chronic short sleep are associated with increased risks of
In a nutshell, sleep may impact health and quality of life in general; therefore, it is crucial to understand how it affects your patients.
Aging brings along many changes in physiology, including sleep. Those age-induced changes are independent of other factors and usually consist of night sleep shortening, increasing awakening frequency and volume, and increasing the number of naps. When it comes to sleep quality, older age usually brings along a decrease in restorative slow-wave sleep (3). Poor sleep quality for older adults brings many negative health effects, especially in cognition. It was, for example, also associated with an increased risk of falls and recurrent falls in the Chinese elderly (4).
With age,
Most of the elderly suffer from sleep disorders, with the most common being insomnia. Almost every fourth older American sleeps less than 6 hours (8). The prevalence rate of sleep disorders in the aged population varies with geography.
Different phases of sleep interact together: preserved or enhanced rapid eye movement sleep may compensate for otherwise disrupted sleep in advancing age, such as decreased slow-wave sleep (9).
When talking about sleep, we need to take into account also daytime sleep and napping.
This practice is partly culturally ingrained, being usual in Mediterranean countries, China, and Latin America. How does napping change with age?
Circadian rhythm dysfunction is also associated with dementia - circadian rhythm of temperature was disturbed in 59.0% of dementia patients and in only 12.5% of the control group. (13)
There is also an association between napping and excessive daytime sleepiness, which is reported by a fifth of older adults. As you will see later, napping may be part of beneficial strategies for sleep health.
Sleep quantity and quality decline until the age of 60, and they tend to remain unchanged. But this is valid for healthy older adults, and over half of older adults complain about poor sleep quality, which is related to physical and psychiatric problems, lifestyle, and environmental factors (7). The main risk factors for bad night sleep in the elderly are:
Quality sleep is one of the factors for maintaining physical and mental health. Anxiety and depression, very common in the aging population, are associated with sleep issues. There is recent evidence that sleep disturbances precede depression occurrence. Chronic pain, another prevalent issue, causes emotional distress and reduces sleep quality, which reduces pain thresholds. Cardiovascular disease risk increases with sleeping less than 6 hours per night, and sleeping less than four or more than ten is linked to increased mortality. Sleep apnea and insomnia are risk factors for Alzheimer’s disease (16).
There is also preliminary evidence that poor sleep quality and prolonged sleep duration are associated with frailty and pre-frailty in an elderly population (aged between 70–87 years) (17).
Most studies talk about sleep disorders and health issues being linked, associated, or risk factors. Even though sleep issues may not be the direct cause of those health problems, they improve your patients' overall health and, subsequently, the quality of life. What can improve their sleep? Let us take a look at the example of the longevity Blue Zones.
Okinawa in Japan is known for the longevity of their inhabitants, with the highest average lifespan and the lowest death rate from the lifestyle-related diseases. How are those extremely healthy and very old people living?
A study of 109 elderly Okinawa residents discovered a clear relationship between lifestyle and sleep health of the elderly and that poor sleep health is related to poor physical and mental health (18).
Good sleeping older Okinawans:
A study of centenarians in Utah concluded that sleep latency, life satisfaction (psychological), and attachment closeness (social) were predictive factors of more days lived within individual models, with sleep latency and life satisfaction being significant predictors of days lived (19).
Longevity Blue Zones habitants experience better sleep quality thanks to their lifestyles: short naps, exercise, and a healthy diet. Incorporating those healthy habits could be beneficial not only for elderly patients but for everybody.
There is no dispute that quality sleep is one of the main components of good health and quality of life. Sleep issues are linked to various symptoms, from anxiety and Alzheimer's disease to cardiovascular disease and obesity. The good news is that your patients may improve their sleep health by lifestyle factors inspired by the longest-living populations.
https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s40675-018-0131-6
https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1046/j.1440-1819.2002.01014.x
Snoring, insomnia, sleep deprivation, sleep apnea… Almost half of the adult population experiences some kind of sleep issue. This global epidemic threatens not only the health and quality of life but is also one of the causes of injuries and death in sleep-related accidents. In the United States alone, sleepy drivers are involved in 100,000 accidents yearly. Several of the most infamous workplace accidents are directly or indirectly linked to sleep deprivation, from the Chernobyl nuclear plant meltdown to the Space Shuttle Challenger explosion.
Sleep that puts each day to rest. Sleep that relieves the weary laborer and heals hurt minds. Sleep, the main course in life's feast, and the most nourishing."
William Shakespeare, Macbeth.
Both everybody's personal experience and medical studies unanimously conclude that sleep is one of the vital components of well-being and health. This is even more valid for the longevity that is associated with regular sleep patterns and maintenance of the deepest phase of sleep - slow-wave sleep (1). Sleep health, creating and maintaining sleep of adequate length and quality, is crucial for healthy living. Sleep disorders or chronic short sleep are associated with increased risks of
In a nutshell, sleep may impact health and quality of life in general; therefore, it is crucial to understand how it affects your patients.
Aging brings along many changes in physiology, including sleep. Those age-induced changes are independent of other factors and usually consist of night sleep shortening, increasing awakening frequency and volume, and increasing the number of naps. When it comes to sleep quality, older age usually brings along a decrease in restorative slow-wave sleep (3). Poor sleep quality for older adults brings many negative health effects, especially in cognition. It was, for example, also associated with an increased risk of falls and recurrent falls in the Chinese elderly (4).
With age,
Most of the elderly suffer from sleep disorders, with the most common being insomnia. Almost every fourth older American sleeps less than 6 hours (8). The prevalence rate of sleep disorders in the aged population varies with geography.
Different phases of sleep interact together: preserved or enhanced rapid eye movement sleep may compensate for otherwise disrupted sleep in advancing age, such as decreased slow-wave sleep (9).
When talking about sleep, we need to take into account also daytime sleep and napping.
This practice is partly culturally ingrained, being usual in Mediterranean countries, China, and Latin America. How does napping change with age?
Circadian rhythm dysfunction is also associated with dementia - circadian rhythm of temperature was disturbed in 59.0% of dementia patients and in only 12.5% of the control group. (13)
There is also an association between napping and excessive daytime sleepiness, which is reported by a fifth of older adults. As you will see later, napping may be part of beneficial strategies for sleep health.
Sleep quantity and quality decline until the age of 60, and they tend to remain unchanged. But this is valid for healthy older adults, and over half of older adults complain about poor sleep quality, which is related to physical and psychiatric problems, lifestyle, and environmental factors (7). The main risk factors for bad night sleep in the elderly are:
Quality sleep is one of the factors for maintaining physical and mental health. Anxiety and depression, very common in the aging population, are associated with sleep issues. There is recent evidence that sleep disturbances precede depression occurrence. Chronic pain, another prevalent issue, causes emotional distress and reduces sleep quality, which reduces pain thresholds. Cardiovascular disease risk increases with sleeping less than 6 hours per night, and sleeping less than four or more than ten is linked to increased mortality. Sleep apnea and insomnia are risk factors for Alzheimer’s disease (16).
There is also preliminary evidence that poor sleep quality and prolonged sleep duration are associated with frailty and pre-frailty in an elderly population (aged between 70–87 years) (17).
Most studies talk about sleep disorders and health issues being linked, associated, or risk factors. Even though sleep issues may not be the direct cause of those health problems, they improve your patients' overall health and, subsequently, the quality of life. What can improve their sleep? Let us take a look at the example of the longevity Blue Zones.
Okinawa in Japan is known for the longevity of their inhabitants, with the highest average lifespan and the lowest death rate from the lifestyle-related diseases. How are those extremely healthy and very old people living?
A study of 109 elderly Okinawa residents discovered a clear relationship between lifestyle and sleep health of the elderly and that poor sleep health is related to poor physical and mental health (18).
Good sleeping older Okinawans:
A study of centenarians in Utah concluded that sleep latency, life satisfaction (psychological), and attachment closeness (social) were predictive factors of more days lived within individual models, with sleep latency and life satisfaction being significant predictors of days lived (19).
Longevity Blue Zones habitants experience better sleep quality thanks to their lifestyles: short naps, exercise, and a healthy diet. Incorporating those healthy habits could be beneficial not only for elderly patients but for everybody.
There is no dispute that quality sleep is one of the main components of good health and quality of life. Sleep issues are linked to various symptoms, from anxiety and Alzheimer's disease to cardiovascular disease and obesity. The good news is that your patients may improve their sleep health by lifestyle factors inspired by the longest-living populations.
https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s40675-018-0131-6
https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1046/j.1440-1819.2002.01014.x