I Government Agencies Treating Late-Life Insomnia Results of a recent study showing insomnia in older adults can be effectively treated by a combination of behavioral lifestyle change and medications.
Many older adults have trouble falling asleep and staying asleep.
Some 12 to 25 percent of healthy seniors report chronic insomnia, but despite their weariness, less than 15 percent receive treatment. Now National Institute of Mental Health-funded research appearing in the March 17 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association shows that insomnia in later years is treatable. By changing habits and attitudes, older adults can sleep better and longer, the study reports. Seventy-eight adults with insomnia, including 50 women and 28 men, participated in the study. Subjects had to be 55 or older with insomnia for 6 months or more.