Advanced Sleep Phase Syndrome (ASPS) More Common as People Grow Older

As you grow older, your sleep patterns change. You find difficult to sleep, wake more often and take long time to go back to sleep as you grow older.

You doze off easily while reading newspaper or while watching television. You easily wake up with slight noise and small disturbances.

Advanced sleep phase syndrome (ASPS) is a disorder in which the sleep episode is advanced in relation to the desired clock time which results in evening sleepiness. Due to the early sleep onset, the awakening is earlier than desired.

Symptoms of Advanced sleep phase syndrome:

The symptoms of advanced sleep phase syndrome (ASPS) are inability to stay awake until the desired bedtime, inability to remain asleep until the desired time of awakening, awaken spontaneously and the sleep episode phase will be advance in relation to the desired time for sleep.

Causes of Advanced sleep phase syndrome:

Advanced sleep phase syndrome (ASPS) occurs more common as people grow older. The other causes are medical illness, psychiatric illness, pain or depression.

As you grow older, you need less sleep. Actually, older people need same amount of sleep, but at a stretch they cannot sleep for that many hours.

You cannot maintain the sleep patterns as you age. You get less deep stages of sleep and awake more frequently in the night. As medical problems are more likely to develop, they interfere with sleep. Heart disease, respiratory problems like asthma and arthritis are the most common problems.

Itching, pain, cough and fever can also interfere with sleep. Due to the change in sleep patterns, you may lose interest in daily activities.

Advanced sleep phase syndrome (ASPS) can affect your personal activities due to the early sleep onset.

If you attempt to delay the sleep to sleep in normal time, you may sleep in social gatherings or feel drowsy while driving. People who work evening or night shifts may have difficulty in staying awake in the evenings and early morning hours.

Bright light therapy:

Confine your sleep to the nights. Advanced sleep phase syndrome (ASPS) can be treated with exposure to bright light during the evening for two hours.

This exposure to bright light shifts your circadian rhythm and delay the onset of sleep until the typical bedtime. Normal house light is not enough because it will be well below the level of day light.

The bright light therapy will be effective if the intensity is four to five times more than that of normal light. If you are following light therapy, you will get up when the sun comes in the morning.

You have to use sleep mask to avoid awakening as soon as your bedroom gets sunlight in the morning to get an extra hour of sleep.

Maintain a sleep diary for two to three weeks. Depending on the sleep diary, you can maintain sleep hygiene. Moderate exercise such as walking or low impact aerobics in the late afternoon is advised.