There is a myth that older people need less sleep. That is simply not true. All adults need between seven and nine hours of sleep each night. As we age, it gets more difficult to get a good night’s sleep. That doesn’t mean we don’t still need seven to nine hours. One of the challenges to healthy aging is troubleshooting sleep to ensure that we are getting enough rest for good health.
How much sleep we need depends on what is happening in our bodies. The rapid growth of infancy and adolescence and the demands on the body during pregnancy mean more sleep. Contrary to the common sleep myth, older adults need just as much sleep as younger ones. Here is a list of sleep needs by group:
A person should be alert and awake throughout the day. Some signs that you are not getting enough quality sleep include:
Although they have been available for many decades, latex mattresses are currently experiencing a resurgence in popularity, particularly in Europe. In general, latex shares many of the benefits of memory foam, particularly in terms of its exceptional support and durability. However, latex lacks the highly conforming nature and slow recovery time that characterize memory foam. For those who dislike these aspects of memory foam, whether due to the warmth of the mattress, difficulty in changing positions or otherwise, latex ...
Continue Reading →Memory foam, also known as visco-elastic foam, is a relatively new and increasingly popular development in the foam mattress market. Originally developed by NASA to protect astronauts against extreme “g-forces,” memory foam is known for its ability to mold itself to your body and support it evenly. By making contact with more of your body, the pressure of the mattress is spread over a greater portion of your body’s surface area, thereby reducing stress on your shoulders, hips, ...
Continue Reading →The coils, also known as the core or the innerspring unit, provide the main support for the body. Proper support is essential not only for a good night’s sleep, but for maintaining a healthy spine. When considering the core of an innerspring mattress, there are a number of important factors: the number of coils used throughout the mattress, the way the coils are constructed, and the shape of the coils.
You might have heard a rumor that the more coils ...
Continue Reading →When you think of a mattress, you are probably envisioning an “innerspring” mattress, meaning one whose core contains some amount of coil springs. Innerspring mattresses have long been the standard in the mattress industry, and still represent over 80% of the mattress market. Most innerspring mattresses look relatively similar from the outside, but take a closer look and you’ll find huge differences. Here are the basics of “innerspring anatomy” that will help you learn how to distinguish one innerspring ...
Continue Reading →Buying a bed means making sense of a dizzying variety of materials, construction techniques and features — memory foam, innerspring, latex, pillow-top — the list goes on and on. What does it all mean?
Let’s review some of your options in more depth. Here are the seven most common categories of mattresses available for purchase:
Long the standard of the mattress industry, representing over 80% of the market, innerspring mattresses are distinguished from other types of beds by their use of ...
Continue Reading →To help you with your mattress “lingo,” we have compiled this handy list of definitions for some of the mattress industry’s most common terms.
Type of bed distinguished by its ability to bend and elevate into upright or other positions. Sometimes referred to as an electric bed or hospital bed. See our Adjustable Bed Guide for more information on the various features and benefits of adjustable beds.
Type of bed distinguished by its use of an air-filled Core, rather than ...
Continue Reading →Sleep has been the subject of speculation and thought since the time of the early Greek philosophers, but only recently have researchers discovered ways to study sleep in a systematic and objective way. The advent of new technology such as the electroencephalograph has allowed scientists to look at and measure electrical patterns and activity produced by the sleeping brain.
While we can now investigate sleep and related phenomena, not all researchers agree on exactly why we sleep. A number of ...
Print this handy list of questions and take it with you to your next doctor’s appointment.
Sleep apnea is a medical condition in which air movement through the throat into the lungs is reduced during sleep. This condition may affect a person’s daily activities due to impaired sleep but also has been recognized to have an impact on your general health including an increase in blood pressure. Treatment usually involves a machine called CPAP with a face mask (continuous positive airway ...
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