As many as 50% of older adults struggle to fall or stay asleep, and up to 75% of seniors experience symptoms of insomnia.
In addition to being frustrating, insomnia can increase your risk of heart disease, dementia, anxiety and depression — and it can also make you much more likely to fall down, which can be serious for seniors.
Now, a new study published in the journal Family Medicine and Community Health has found an unlikely treatment for this sleep disorder.
Researchers analyzed data from dozens of previous studies, representing a sample size of over 2,000 adults aged 60 and older from around the world.
They explored the impact that five different types of exercises had on their sleep troubles: aerobic exercises like swimming and brisk walking, combination workouts like yoga, balance exercises like standing on one leg, flexibility exercises like gymnastics and strength training or resistance workouts like lifting weights.
While combination and aerobic exercises were found to be “effective in improving sleep quality to a clinically significant level,” the researchers concluded that strength training worked best.
“Strengthening exercise has the highest efficacy among others,” they said.
The findings align with previous research, such as a 2022 study that showed resistance training had a slight edge in enhancing sleep efficiency in older adults who had trouble sleeping as compared to aerobics.
Scott Kaiser, Director of Geriatric Cognitive Health at the Pacific Brain Health Center at Pacific Neuroscience Institute, told Medical News Today that this new study highlights an important issue in a population that is rapidly aging.
“For the first time in human history, we have more people over the age of 65 than under the age of 18,” he said.
“And when you consider all of the profound effects of insomnia and poor sleep quality on the overall health and well-being of older adults, and the connection with increased risks of dementia and other chronic diseases, this is just really critical.”
Kaiser also noted that since “older adults have more significant insomnia than younger people,” it’s crucial to do more research on how to help prevent senior insomnia before it begins to impact society as a whole.
“If we don’t invest in this type of research now, it would be easy to say, ‘Oh, well, who cares?’ or to be dismissive,” he warned.
“But if we don’t increase our investment in this type of research now, there will be significant social, health and economic repercussions for decades to come.”
