Flourish Health & Wellbeing eMagazine - Jan21 - Flipbook - Page 37
What medical conditions can interfere with
sleep?
Many conditions can make it harder to sleep. Some that are common
in older people are arthritis, osteoporosis, Parkinson’s, incontinence,
indigestion, heart disease and lung diseases such as asthma or
COPD. The drugs used to treat these conditions may also interfere
with sleep. Anxiety and depression can both interfere with getting off to
sleep as well as cause wakefulness during the night. Dementia or
Alzheimer’s disease can make sleep worse. Two-thirds of nursing
home residents have problems with their sleep. Sleep problems tend
to increase when there is not enough exercise or interesting activities
during the day or people go to bed too early.
