Sleep and Older Adults

Older adults need about the same amount of sleep as all adults — seven to nine hours each night.

老年人需要的睡眠时间与所有成年人大致相同——每晚七到九个小时。

But older people tend to go to sleep earlier and get up earlier than they did when they were younger.

但老年人往往比年轻时更早入睡、更早起床。

Getting enough sleep helps you stay healthy and alert.

充足的睡眠有助于您保持健康和警觉。

However, many older people don’t sleep well.

然而，许多老年人睡眠质量不佳。

If you’re always sleepy or you find it hard to get enough sleep at night, it may be time to talk with a doctor .

如果您总是很困或者发现晚上很难获得足够的睡眠，可能是时候去看医生了。

You spend about one-third of your life sleeping or trying to sleep.

你一生中大约有三分之一的时间都在睡觉或试图睡觉。

But how does this basic human need work?

但人类的这种基本需求是如何发挥作用的呢？

Though it may seem simple, sleep is a complex process.

虽然睡眠看似简单，但它是一个复杂的过程。

Multiple parts of the brain work together to produce signals that prepare the body for sleep.

大脑的多个部分协同工作，产生为身体准备睡眠的信号。

Your circadian rhythm — “the body’s clock” — provides the timing for sleep.

您的昼夜节律——“身体的时钟”——提供了睡眠时间。

Sleep-wake homeostasis, a state of balance, is the body’s drive to sleep that increases the longer you are awake.

睡眠-觉醒稳态是一种平衡状态，是身体对睡眠的驱动力，清醒的时间越长，这种驱动力就会增强。

Certain signals in your body lead to sleep.

身体中的某些信号会导致睡眠。

These include melatonin, a hormone your body releases when it gets dark that makes you feel sleepy, and adenosine, a chemical that builds up in your brain while you’re awake and gets broken down while you’re asleep.

其中包括褪黑激素和腺苷，褪黑激素是身体在天黑时释放的一种让您感到困倦的激素，腺苷是一种在您清醒时在大脑中积聚并在您睡觉时分解的化学物质。

A good night’s sleep depends on sleeping when your body is prepared, sleeping seven to nine hours, and getting enough of each type of sleep.

良好的睡眠取决于身体准备好时的睡眠，睡眠时间为七到九个小时，并且每种类型的睡眠都充足。

There are two major types of sleep: rapid eye movement (REM) and non-REM.

睡眠有两种主要类型：快速眼动睡眠 (REM) 和非快速眼动睡眠。

They are linked to patterns (waves) of electrical activity in your brain.

它们与大脑中的电活动模式（波）有关。

REM and non-REM sleep occur in cycles, usually three to five each night.

快速眼动睡眠和非快速眼动睡眠是周期性发生的，通常每晚三到五个。

Both non-REM and REM sleep help you store memories.

非快速眼动睡眠和快速眼动睡眠都可以帮助您存储记忆。

Sleep is important for your body — from the brain, heart, and lungs to energy, protection against disease, and mood.

睡眠对您的身体非常重要——从大脑、心脏、肺部到能量、预防疾病和情绪。

It also affects your ability to function during the day.

它还会影响您白天的工作能力。

A good night’s sleep can help you learn, create new memories, respond quickly, solve problems, pay attention, make decisions, and be creative.

良好的睡眠可以帮助您学习、创造新的记忆、快速反应、解决问题、集中注意力、做出决定和发挥创造力。

Not getting enough sleep can cause harm to your body.

睡眠不足会对身体造成伤害。

Research shows that over time it can increase your risk of:

研究表明，随着时间的推移，它会增加您的风险：

If you wake up tired, feel easily annoyed, have trouble falling asleep, or have trouble staying asleep, these may be signs you’re not getting a good night’s sleep.

如果您醒来时感到疲倦、容易感到烦恼、难以入睡或难以保持睡眠状态，这些可能表明您没有睡个好觉。

As you age, how you sleep changes.

随着年龄的增长，睡眠方式也会发生变化。

Older adults tend to go to bed earlier and wake up earlier than younger adults, and the amount of time spent in each type of sleep decreases.

老年人往往比年轻人更早睡觉和更早起床，并且每种睡眠所花费的时间都会减少。

Sleep tends to be shorter and lighter, and you may wake up more often during the night.

睡眠往往更短、更浅，并且您可能会在夜间更频繁地醒来。

Older adults are also more likely to take medications and have medical conditions that affect sleep.

老年人也更有可能服用药物并患有影响睡眠的健康状况。

Many older adults don’t sleep well.

许多老年人睡眠不好。

Factors such as illness, medications , mental health, and pain can make it hard to get a good night’s sleep.

疾病、药物、心理健康和疼痛等因素可能会导致夜间睡眠困难。

Sleep disorders become more common with age, including insomnia (trouble falling or staying asleep), sleep apnea (pauses in breathing during sleep), and movement disorders such as restless legs syndrome.

随着年龄的增长，睡眠障碍变得更加常见，包括失眠（入睡或保持睡眠困难）、睡眠呼吸暂停（睡眠期间呼吸暂停）和运动障碍，例如不宁腿综合症。

Practicing better sleep habits and being diagnosed and treated if you have a sleep disorder may help improve your sleep.

养成更好的睡眠习惯并在患有睡眠障碍时进行诊断和治疗可能有助于改善您的睡眠。

Getting a good night’s sleep is important to your well-being.

睡个好觉对您的健康很重要。

The way you feel while you’re awake depends in part on what happens while you’re sleeping.

你醒着时的感觉部分取决于你睡觉时发生的事情。

During sleep, your body is working to help your brain and body be at their best.

在睡眠期间，您的身体正在努力帮助您的大脑和身体处于最佳状态。

Good sleep can help protect your mental and physical health, quality of life, and safety.

良好的睡眠有助于保护您的身心健康、生活质量和安全。

Not getting quality sleep can increase your risk for health problems and affect how well you think, react, work, learn, and get along with others.

睡眠质量不佳会增加您出现健康问题的风险，并影响您的思考、反应、工作、学习和与他人相处的能力。

Try these tips to sleep better:

尝试以下建议以改善睡眠：

Insomnia is the most common sleep problem in adults age 60 and older.

失眠是 60 岁及以上成年人最常见的睡眠问题。

People with this condition have trouble falling asleep or staying asleep at least three nights a week.

患有这种疾病的人每周至少有三个晚上难以入睡或难以入睡。

Short term insomnia can be caused by stress or changes to routine.

短期失眠可能是由压力或日常生活改变引起的。

Chronic, or long-term, insomnia lasts more than three months and can’t be fully explained by another medical cause.

慢性或长期失眠持续三个月以上，并且不能用其他医学原因完全解释。

Healthy habits at bedtime may help prevent or manage insomnia, and cognitive behavioral therapy (a type of counseling) can help.

睡前的健康习惯可能有助于预防或控制失眠，认知行为疗法（一种咨询）可以提供帮助。

Sleep medicines may help in the short term, but they carry risks and should not be used long term.

安眠药可能在短期内有所帮助，但存在风险，不宜长期使用。

If you have trouble sleeping, keep a sleep diary for a couple weeks.

如果您睡眠困难，请写几周的睡眠日记。

Keep track of when you go to bed, when you wake up during the night, and when you wake up for the day.

记录您何时上床睡觉、何时在夜间醒来以及何时醒来。

Note whether you had caffeine or alcohol and whether you exercised that day.

请注意您当天是否摄入了咖啡因或酒精，以及是否进行了锻炼。

The sleep diary will help you identify patterns to discuss with your doctor and help with diagnosis.

睡眠日记将帮助您识别与医生讨论的模式并帮助诊断。

Sleep apnea causes you to stop breathing for a few seconds repeatedly during sleep.

睡眠呼吸暂停会导致您在睡眠期间反复停止呼吸几秒钟。

Throat muscles relax during sleep, and in people with sleep apnea, this relaxation of the muscles blocks their airway.

喉咙肌肉在睡眠期间放松，对于患有睡眠呼吸暂停的人来说，这种肌肉的放松会阻塞气道。

Snoring can be a sign, but not everyone who snores has sleep apnea.

打鼾可能是一个征兆，但并不是每个打鼾的人都患有睡眠呼吸暂停。

To treat sleep apnea, a continuous-positive-airway-pressure (CPAP) device may be used while sleeping.

为了治疗睡眠呼吸暂停，可以在睡眠时使用持续气道正压通气 (CPAP) 装置。

Sleeping in a position that keeps airways open or getting a dental device or surgery also may help.

以保持呼吸道通畅的姿势睡觉、使用牙科设备或进行手术也可能有所帮助。

If you suspect you have sleep apnea, it’s important to talk to your doctor.

如果您怀疑自己患有睡眠呼吸暂停，请务必咨询您的医生。

Undiagnosed or untreated sleep apnea can lead to serious health problems, including heart attack.

未经诊断或未经治疗的睡眠呼吸暂停可能会导致严重的健康问题，包括心脏病发作。

Movement disorders make it harder to get good sleep.

运动障碍使人更难获得良好的睡眠。

Read about these disorders below and talk with your doctor if you think you may have one of these problems.

请阅读下面有关这些疾病的信息，如果您认为自己可能有这些问题之一，请咨询您的医生。

Restless legs syndrome feels like there is tingling, crawling, or pins and needles in one or both legs.

不宁腿综合症感觉一条腿或双腿有刺痛、爬行或发麻的感觉。

This feeling is worse at night and feels better with movement.

这种感觉在晚上更严重，运动时感觉更好。

Treatment with iron supplementation or medications is usually helpful.

补充铁剂或药物治疗通常会有所帮助。

Periodic limb movement disorder causes people to jerk and kick their legs every 20 to 40 seconds during sleep.

周期性肢体运动障碍会导致人们在睡眠期间每 20 至 40 秒猛拉和踢腿一次。

Medication, warm baths, exercise, and relaxation can help.

药物治疗、洗热水澡、锻炼和放松都有帮助。

The body normally stays still during REM sleep, but people with REM sleep behavior disorder can move their muscles and act out their dreams.

在快速眼动睡眠期间，身体通常保持静止，但患有快速眼动睡眠行为障碍的人可以活动肌肉并实现他们的梦想。

This disrupts sleep and can be dangerous.

这会扰乱睡眠并且可能很危险。

Treatment includes a safe environment to prevent injuries while sleeping, and medication or melatonin supplements.

治疗方法包括提供安全的环境以防止睡眠时受伤，以及服用药物或褪黑激素补充剂。

Based on your symptoms, your doctor may suggest a polysomnogram — an overnight sleep test done at a sleep center that measures and records what happens while you sleep, including your brain activity, eye movements, and muscle activity — to make a diagnosis.

根据您的症状，您的医生可能会建议进行多导睡眠图（在睡眠中心进行的夜间睡眠测试，测量并记录您睡眠时发生的情况，包括您的大脑活动、眼球运动和肌肉活动）来做出诊断。

Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias can cause changes such as sleeping too much or not enough, waking up often, and wandering or yelling at night.

阿尔茨海默病和相关的痴呆症会导致睡眠过多或不足、经常醒来、夜间徘徊或大喊大叫等变化。

This affects the sleep of both the person with dementia and their caregiver.

这会影响痴呆症患者及其护理人员的睡眠。

Poor sleep quality can make dementia symptoms worse, so it is important to take steps that help improve sleep and nighttime safety.

睡眠质量差会使痴呆症症状恶化，因此采取有助于改善睡眠和夜间安全的措施非常重要。

Find tips for managing sleep problems for people with Alzheimer’s .

查找管理阿尔茨海默氏症患者睡眠问题的技巧。

There are several things to keep in mind to help you stay safe when you’re asleep.

有几件事需要记住，以帮助您在睡觉时保持安全。

These include:

这些包括：

Talk with your doctor before starting medication or supplements to improve your sleep.

在开始服用药物或补充剂来改善睡眠之前，请先咨询您的医生。

Sleep medication may help in the short term, but there is risk and the potential to become dependent on the pills.

安眠药可能会在短期内有所帮助，但存在风险，并且有可能对药物产生依赖性。

You may not feel refreshed in the morning or clearheaded during the day.

您可能在早上感觉不神清气爽，或者在白天感觉头脑清醒。

Some pills also may lose their effectiveness over time, so you will need more and more to fall asleep.

有些药片也可能会随着时间的推移而失去效力，因此您需要越来越多的药片才能入睡。

National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute 301-592-8573 nhlbiinfo@nhlbi.nih.gov www.nhlbi.nih.gov

国家心肺血液研究所 301-592-8573 nhlbiinfo@nhlbi.nih.gov www.nhlbi.nih.gov

American Sleep Apnea Association 888-293-3650 asaa@sleepapnea.org www.sleepapnea.org

美国睡眠呼吸暂停协会 888-293-3650 asaa@sleepapnea.org www.sleepapnea.org

National Sleep Foundation 703-243-1697 nsf@thensf.org www.thensf.org www.thensj.org/sleep-health-topics/

国家睡眠基金会 703-243-1697 nsf@thensf.org www.thensf.org www.thensj.org/sleep-health-topics/

Restless Legs Syndrome Foundation 512-366-9109 info@rls.org www.rls.org

不安腿综合症基金会 512-366-9109 info@rls.org www.rls.org

This content is provided by the NIH National Institute on Aging (NIA).

本内容由 NIH 国家老龄化研究所 (NIA) 提供。

NIA scientists and other experts review this content to ensure it is accurate and up to date.

NIA 科学家和其他专家审查此内容以确保其准确且最新。