Aging, Sleep Disorders, and the Body Clock

As we age, the internal body clock that coordinates our physiology with the 24-hour day falters. Older people tend to get tired earlier and wake up earlier. Sleep problems, which commonly trouble the elderly, aren't just an annoyance. Lack of sleep can impair memory, disrupt metabolism, and perhaps even hasten death. Refs.

As some people get into their sixties and seventies they find themselves going to bed as early as 6:00 or 7:00 p.m. in the evening, and then waking at 3:00 or 4:00 a.m. in the morning. Many restaurants have "seniors" supper specials startin at 3 or 4 p.m. to accommodate older customers. When people reach their seventies and eighties their circadian rhythms can flatten out, and some elderly people lose the ability to maintain a functional sleep-wake cycle. This is most notable in elderly care facilities where residents can be found asleep at any hour of the day or night, and often sleep for a portion of every hour during the day and night. Refs

Studies indicate light therapy can remedy early rising syndrome in the elderly by shifting the body clock to a normal nighttime sleeping schedule. Elderly people with fragmented sleeping patterns may also benefit from light therapy, which appears to improve the amplitude of circadian rhythms in the elderly and consolidates sleep in the night time. Studies indicate that light therapy can help older people stay more alert during the daytime, and reduce of prevent the "night wandering" that complicates the care of many elderly people with Alzheimer's or other types of dementia. Refs Studies now indicate that the reduction of circadian rhythm disturbance through the use of light therapy can result in an improvement in the cognitive state and quality of life in early-stage Alzheimer's-type dementia. Refs.

Aging brings physiological changes to the eye. With age, the lens of the eye progressively yellows. This substantially limits the proportion of blue light reaching the retina after age 40, and the extent of blue light filtering by the yellowing lens continues to increase with age. Increased cloudiness of the lens and cornea that occurs with age causes increased glare from "Bright-Light" or "blue Light" therapy lamps, and most elderly people find exposure to these lamps difficult to tolerate. Ref

Additionally the sophisticated repair system that protects the retina from oxidative damage diminishes with age. Exposure to the bright light therapy lamps, particularly the blue wavelengths of light that does manage to reach the retina from these bright light or blue light therapy lamps, increases the risk of light-induced retinal damage and blindness in this vulnerable population. The hazard from bright light is compounded because most elderly people have some significant retinal damage, and many are taking photosensitizing medications. By age 75, more than one in every three people has vision problems from Age-related Macular Degeneration (AMD), and this increases to over one half of people by age 85. Read more on age-related eye damage from bright light

Lo-LIGHT lamps have been shown to be as effective as bright light for light therapy, even though they emit no blue light. The patented GreenLIGHT technology used in Lo-LIGHT lamps provides light that is not selectively filtered out by the yellowing lens and maintains its effectiveness in older people.

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The Sunnex Biotechnologies Lo-LIGHT phototherapy lamp comes with a five year warranty. Details