Sleep and aging

A common disorder: Sleep is one of the most often altered functions in elde rly people. Obviously, insomnia is one of the main complain, inducing benzo diazepine (BSD) abuse, but we must keep in mind that sleep apnoea syndrome (SAS) and restless legs syndrome (RLS) are also frequent in this group of a ge. After exclusion of the various age-related conditions that could induce sleep disorders, we must focalise on primary and secondary sleep disorders . As an introduction, methods of sleep analysis are described and qualitati ve and quantitative sleep variables are given. Physiological sleep: Comparing the sleep of elderly people to the one of yo ung adult give us the opportunity to define the limits of the physiological sleep aging, it seems that the main age-induced sleep disturbances are pro blems to maintain sleep and chronobiological disorganisation of the sleep-w ake rhythm, both responsible for insomnia complains. It is important to not e that SAS and RLS prevalence are correlated with age, Also crucial is the complex association between sleep, depression and dementia. These interacti ons are addressed from a diagnostic and a therapeutic point of view. Therapeutic approach: Lastly, concerning insomnia we emphasise the importan ce of therapeutic alternative to BZD, responsible for addictions and cognit ive impairment, mainly behavioural and chronotherapeutic methods (photother apy: melatonin). For clinicians, it is recommended to respect the individua l rhythms of each elderly patient and to prefer nonpharmacological methods.