Encourage Exercise During The Day
Assist a loved one who is dealing with dementia in getting daily physical activity. Being involved in physical exercise during the day can help with getting better sleep. Because being overly exhausted in the evening might lead to an increase in agitation, it is advisable to plan physical exercise early in the day.
Get Any Physical And Mental Conditions Diagnosed And Treated
As we made clear earlier in this article, depression, restless leg syndrome, and countless other physical and mental health conditions can impede a dementia patients ability to sleep. Youll recall that that includes dementia itself.
If your parent or loved one with dementia doesnt already have a treatment regimen with their doctor, then beginning one is within their best interest.
How Does Sleep Affect Dementia Risk
Experts suggest that sleep and dementia may share a bidirectional relationship. This means that while sleep could affect dementia risk and symptoms, the presence or absence of dementia also affects sleep quality. For example, one of the first Alzheimers disease symptoms in the brain is the accumulation of a protein called amyloid-beta, which eventually forms clumps called amyloid plaques. Animal studies and a small study in people have shown sleep deprivation to increase the levels of amyloid-beta in the brain. At the same time, Alzheimers patients with amyloid plaques have been shown to have worse sleep quality than Alzheimers patients who do not have amyloid plaques.
Additionally, sleep is known to be critical for our cognitive functioning and memory formation. Observational studies have shown that sleep issues are associated with cognitive decline and dementia. However, these studies do not prove a cause-and-effect relationship. Although more research is needed to better understand sleep and dementia risk, there are many proven steps you can take to improve your sleep.
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My Dad Has Dementia And Is Moving Into Residential Care Are There Any Care Homes With Dementia Units
Yes, there are. These residential units will allow your dad to live in a home environment with the benefit of trained staff on hand to help care for him. It may also be worth considering finding a care home in the right location to enable friends and family to visit regularly. This may be more fitting for your dad and ease the transition.
Fun And Interesting Activities
Doing enjoyable and interesting activities during the day helps to reduce daytime sleepiness. Being active can produce a satisfying feeling of tiredness that makes sleep easier at bedtime, and may also reduce feelings of anxiety and restlessness.
Physical activities, such as walking and gardening, are particularly good for improving the quality of sleep. If the person you support can do these activities for at least 2030 minutes, during the day, several times each week, this can help. Too much activity in the evening can keep a person feeling awake.
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How Does Dementia Affect Sleep How Does Dementia Affect Sleep
A person with dementia may have problems with sleeping well or at the right times. Poor sleep may make the symptoms of dementia worse. Find out how dementia affects a person’s sleep.
Understanding sleep and night-time disturbanceUnderstanding sleep and night-time disturbance .
A person with dementia experiences physical changes in their brain because of their condition. These changes can affect how much, and how well they sleep.
A person with dementia may have problems with sleeping at night, and may sleep more during the day. They may find it difficult to get to sleep or they may wake up in the night. The person you care for may not feel well rested when they wake up.
Over time, if these problems happen often, poor sleep may make the symptoms of dementia worse. You may find this difficult to cope with.
Faqs About Dementia Sleep Problems
Caring for a patient with dementia and sleep problems is hard work. When the dementia patient is not sleeping well, it is very easy to become exhausted yourself. To give the best care, the carer needs to look after themselves. In addition to the following questions that some people have asked regarding how to get dementia patients to sleep at night, you should visit our guide on caring for someone with dementia.
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Sleep Aids: Melatonin Medications And Dementia
In some instances, the doctor may prescribe sleeping pills to assist your loved one. However, since elderly individuals with cognitive impairment are more likely to develop sleep-inducing medication side effects, these are often not advised for long-term use.
Melatonin has been shown in several trials to aid sleep in persons with mild to moderate dementia. It may also assist with late-day anxiousness and confusion. Consult your loved one’s physician before beginning any OTC supplements or sleep aids.Wondering what the stages of dementia are? Check out this blog covering different stages of dementia for elderly individuals.
Why Does Sundowning Happen At Night
Youll recall from the prior section that sundowning causes a dementia patient to become agitated and confused as the day wanes and night is about to fall. Why does sundowning happen when it does?
Read our tips for calming someone who has dementia.
Well, as we said, medical experts still arent exactly sure.
That said, the consensus as of this writing is that ones circadian rhythm falling out of whack that could cause or worsen sundowning symptoms.
These factors might also increase the rate of symptoms or their severity:
- Faded light and large shadows that might trigger agitation
- Drinking alcohol or caffeine too close to bedtime
- Mental exhaustion or fatigue
In my opinion, health issues and hospital visits trigger sundowning, too.
My mom went through it as her terminal brain tumor progressed. A few years later, my dad had a mild heart attack and that trauma, combined with a hospital stay, really messed with his sleep-wake cycle.
When either parent was going through it, they would look out the window, see the bright light of mid-day and swear that it was the middle of the night.
When I would stop by after work , it would upset my father because he thought I was on my way to work in the morning and he worried that I would be late because I was helping him.
I have never experienced sundowning myself, so I can only liken it to possibly being similar to that feeling you have when you wake up from a deep sleep and are momentarily disoriented only sundowning cant be shaken off.
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What Is Sleep Pressure
Sleep pressure is the increasing need to sleep after being awake for a long time. The longer a person has been awake for, the more likely that they will feel sleepy, and the more deeply they are likely to sleep. As a person sleeps, the pressure to sleep gradually wears off and they become more likely to wake up.
Some stimulants, such as caffeine, work by blocking the chemicals that make a person feel sleepy.
How To Help Dementia Patients
A dementia diagnosis is never easy to hear, whether youre the patient or one of their loved ones. If youre anxious about the future, thats normal it can take time to learn what your loved one needs and how best to help them as they navigate this disease.
Since dementia patients are often helped by a combination of medications, therapy, and lifestyle adjustments, weve created this guide to review whats available and how and when you might use them.
You can read the whole guide or skip to the following sections:
Neural Effects uses the latest evidence-based techniques to diagnose and help dementia patients. We are located in Provo, Utah, and serve anyone in Salt Lake City or the Utah Valley area. We are in network for most types of medical insurance. Schedule your evaluation today.
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Tips For Managing Sleep Problems In Alzheimer’s
Alzheimers disease often affects a persons sleeping habits. It may be hard to get the person to go to bed and stay there. Someone with Alzheimers may sleep a lot or not enough, and may wake up many times during the night.
Here are some tips that may help caregivers manage sleep problems in people with Alzheimers disease:
How Does Dementia Change Sleep Patterns
Circadian rhythm is a collection of physical and psychological processes that guide our sleep-wake cycle by responding to indicators in our environment. People with dementia experience fundamental changes in their circadian rhythm that work against getting quality sleep on a regular schedule.
The suprachiasmatic nucleus is the part of the brain that serves as our internal clock and responds to cues, such as light, to indicate when we should be alert and when we should feel sleepy. Individuals who have Alzheimers diseasethe most common type of dementiaoften have damaged cells in the SCN and decreased cellular activity in this part of the brain. The result of this dysfunction is that patients are often unable to follow a 24-hour sleep-wake cycle and instead sleep excessively during the day and sleep much less at night.
Additionally, dementia is associated with changes in sleep structure. When we sleep, our bodies cycle through a series of sleep stages, from light sleep , to deep sleep , and then dream sleep . Slow-wave sleep and REM sleep are critical parts of how sleep works to restore the body and mind. People with dementia spend less time in slow-wave sleep and REM sleep and more time in the earlier stages of sleep. This reduction of deep sleep and REM sleep can worsen as dementia progresses.
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What Can Help Someone With Dementia Sleep Better
Sleep hygiene is the primary treatment for sleep concerns in people with dementia. Sleep hygiene is a collection of practices and environmental considerations that promote good sleep quality. The following sleep hygiene tips may help a person with dementia improve their sleep patterns:
Some of these sleep hygiene practices may be difficult for someone with dementia. For example, it may not be possible to control the bedroom noise level in a nursing home or assisted living facility. Consider adding a white noise machine to mask outside noise. A person with dementia may also have a difficult time maintaining a regular bedtime due to napping or varied daily activities, but keeping wake time consistent can still help to stabilize the circadian rhythm. A physician or sleep specialist is in a good position to provide individualized sleep hygiene recommendations for a specific situation.
What Sleep Problems Can Be Caused By Dementia What Sleep Problems Can Be Caused By Dementia
Insomnia Insomnia.
Insomnia includes a wide range of sleep problems, such as taking a long time to fall asleep, waking up often during the night, having nightmares and waking up early in the morning. These result in the person not getting enough good-quality sleep.
Insomnia is a common problem for people with dementia, and different causes include the following:
- The person may be struggling with pain or discomfort.
- They may have other health conditions that make sleep more difficult, such as heart or breathing problems, heartburn, constipation, urinary tract infections or incontinence.
- They may be feeling anxious, stressed or depressed.
- They may be taking medications that cause insomnia as a side effect. This is common with drugs prescribed to improve dementia symptoms, such as donepezil, rivastigmine, or galantamine.
These drugs can also lead to very vivid dreams or nightmares. If this happens, they may find taking their medication in the morning rather than at bedtime helps.
There are drugs that can help a person get to sleep more easily. However, most have unpleasant or potentially dangerous side effects, such as dizziness and an increased risk of falls. This makes them less safe for a person with dementia to take. They tend to only be prescribed for very short-term use when the person has severe sleep problems.
Excessive daytime sleepiness Excessive daytime sleepiness.
For more information on hallucinations and delusions see Changes in perception.
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How To Diagnose Dementia
To start helping doctors address your loved one’s dementia-related sleep issues, you need to understand what kinds of symptoms and problems he or she is experiencing.
Check the following list of questions that a group of geriatrics experts recommends for evaluating sleep problems. An additional 10 questions are contained in the journal article here.
I always recommend families try to keep a journal related to these questions for at least a week. Some families may also be able to use a sleep tracker or activity tracker to gather useful information.
Sometimes, additional testing is necessary, such as a sleep breathing study to evaluate sleep apnea.
When Therapy Can No Longer Help The Patient
Many patients eventually reach a point where medication and therapy are no longer helping. In fact, therapy could become a source of stress .
If youre caring for a loved one with dementia, talk to them and their doctor about what to do when this situation arises. Some patients wish to continue treatment as long as possible, while others prefer to stop it as soon as they can no longer function by themselves.
If you know their wishes regarding long-term care, care facilities, and end-of-life arrangements, its easier to stop treatment when doing so is in their best interest. Discussing plans for late-stage dementia ahead of time also helps to minimize arguments amongst family members, who may have differing opinions on what their loved ones dementia care plan should include.
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Keep The Dementia Patient Hydrated And Well
As we talked about in the last section, both dehydration and hunger can worsen sundowning, which might make it harder for a dementia patient to fall asleep.
In my moms case , this was true she was on high doses of steroids to try to shrink the tumor and they made her ravenous. So she had a hard time understanding that it was midnight because her empty stomach insisted it was noon and time to eat!
If youve ever been sent to bed without dinner, then you know that hunger pangs can interrupt your sleep. A dementia patient might awaken in the night and try to get something to eat in the kitchen, waking up the whole family.
Keep your parent or loved one with dementia fed and hydrated. Give them a nourishing meal in the evening and perhaps a post-dinner snack several hours before theyre going to go to sleep.
They should be drinking hydrating fluids such as water throughout the day.
How To Get Dementia Patients To Sleep At Night
Its pretty tough when you have to watch your patients struggle with sleep at night especially when they have a medical condition that poses a serious threat to sleep.
Dementia is one of the medical conditions that can affect ones ability to sleep. It is a general term for conditions and diseases that result in a decline in language, memory, language and problem-solving skills.
This condition affects to a large extent, a persons ability to carry out everyday activities. Now the question, how to get dementia patients to sleep at night?
As most people may have experienced in the past, battling to sleep or not getting enough sleep can literally be a nightmare. In the case of people suffering from dementia, the inability to get enough sleep at night could be acute and also affect the quality of life they live.
And, its not just them alone, even peoplearound them get a fair share of this as they are mostly disturbed.
Now, lets say you have someone suffering fromdementia and you are looking for ways to help them get to sleep at night. Sitback and take a look at some of the causes of the struggle with sleep.
Brain changes: The disruption in the bodys circadian rhythm will mean that the adjustment to the normal 24-hour full day is not balanced and this affects sleep-wake routine.
This mix-up automatically makes it harder formost people suffering from dementia to know when its night or day.
Video: How to help dementia patients to sleep at night
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