One of the best things you can do to keep your brain healthy as you age? Get good-quality sleep!

It may sound simple, but as you age, your body produces lower levels of growth hormones. In turn, you may experience a decrease in deep sleep and produce less melatonin. It’s also common to wake up more often in the night, as certain medications and lifestyle choices can impact your beauty rest. That’s why it’s important to know what to do to support better sleeping habits and healthy practices.

Senior Services Expert Lori Williams offers the latest research on sleep and discusses:

• Benefits of quality sleep

While sleep patterns may change with age, there are tips and tricks to improve the quality - and reap the many benefits.

Takeaways from this episode:

- A sign of sleep deprivation is when you struggle to stay awake when you’re inactive, such as immediately falling asleep when you’re watching TV.

- About 70 million people in the U.S. live with sleep disorders. If you have one, don’t wait to see a doctor: these disorders can have a huge impact on your health.

- Getting 30 minutes of aerobic exercise and 2 hours of sunlight per day helps improve sleep. Also make sure you have a regular bedtime routine and eliminate distractions.

- Sleeping aids and sleeping pills aren’t intended to be used long term, don’t address the cause of insomnia, and can even make insomnia worse over time.

Resources mentioned in this episode:

075. How brain fitness slows down dementia and Alzheimer's disease

https://www.loriwilliams-seniorservices.com/aging-in-style-podcast/episode/3a1051ca/075-how-brain-fitness-slows-down-dementia-and-alzheimers-disease

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Topics discussed:

- Sleep

- Sleep in older adults

- Getting better sleep

- Sleep Apnea / sleep disorders

- Benefits of sleep

- Medications impacting sleep

- Aerobic exercise

- Sleeping pills / melatonin