Elderly Urged to Use Extra Time, Not Sleeping Pills

Many elderly people erroneously think that they need the same amount of sleep as when they were young and start taking sleeping pills that are detrimental to their health, two medical experts said.

The experts also said many people with narcolepsy are misdiagnosed and do not receive medication because doctors fear the patient may be a “drug freak.”

Senior citizens must realize that they need less sleep and therefore can be more productive, said Dr. Bruce Adornato, a specialist in sleep disorders at the Pacific Presbyterian Medical Center in San Francisco.

Retire, Awake Earlier

Dr. Jon Sassin, director of the Sleep Disorders Center at UC Irvine, said many of the elderly change their habits and go to bed earlier but wake up at 3 or 4 a.m. and can’t go back to sleep. He said they then resort to sleeping pills that “are detrimental to them.”

The two were panelists at a recent seminar sponsored by the California Medical Assn.

Adornato said, “Many elderly people just don’t think about the fact that their body develops different sleep requirements as it ages.” At 30, eight hours is the average amount of sleep needed. At 70, the norm is down to 6 1/2 hours, he said.

Adornato suggested that older people do something constructive in the early morning hours such as read or write their family history so they won’t disturb the rest of the household.

Exercise helps people go to sleep, he said. But he added that it is best to do the jogging or other exercises before 6 p.m. so the adrenaline will slow down by bedtime.

Narcolepsy ‘Badly Diagnosed’

In speaking about other sleeping disorders, Sassin said those afflicted with narcolepsy are “pretty badly diagnosed.” This is a condition where a person falls into a deep sleep, sometimes in the middle of the day.

He said doctors feel the patient may “be a drug freak who only wants some ‘speed’ and (the doctor) says, ‘I’m not going to get this person drugs and lose my license.’ ”

Narcolepsy strikes at about age 15, and some children in school who go to sleep are wrongly characterized as drug addicts. He said the person usually doesn’t seek help until he is about 27 years old and then after visiting several doctors, the diagnosis is properly made about 10 years later.

Doesn’t Report Them

Sassin said he urges people with narcolepsy to tell the state when they are getting a drivers license, but he does not report them. He said the state will usually give a restricted license such as in the case of epileptics. After several years, the license will be upgraded, he said.

The biggest problem, he said, is with insurance. Drivers with narcolepsy could lose their coverage.

And he told the seminar that he advises those with the sleeping sickness to avoid flying airplanes. He said there usually is not much danger when the patients are landing or taking off because of the intensity of the operation. But he said he had one man who piloted a cargo plane and put it on automatic controls when he was in the air, then went to sleep. This pilot, he said, usually overran his destination.