... BUT BLISSFUL SLUMBER GETS HARDER WITH AGE

STUDIES show that between 50 and 70 per cent of the elderly don’t get the restorative sleep their brains need.

One reason is that we lose our ability to absorb daylight (through the retina of the eye) as we get older. After the age of 60, as much as 40 per cent is not absorbed properly, meaning the daylight sensors in the brain become confused, impairing their ability to set the ‘circadian clock’ which tells us when to feel sleepy and when to wake up.

Certainly, sleep studies show older people tend to stay in the initial non-restorative phases of sleep for longer and spend less time in the deeper, more restorative stages.

Night after night of lost or low-quality sleep can lead to perpetual daytime drowsiness which is known to increase the risk of dementia.