Many elderly people lose sleep on hot summer days
Due to prolonged hot days, insomnia in the elderly becomes more common, causing many housewives and family members to change their living habits to take care of loved ones.
On hot summer days, Ms. Ngo Mai Trang (40 years old, Hanoi) said that the whole family has to adjust their daily routines to help her mother-in-law (80 years old) improve her sleep.
At night, her mother-in-law often tosses and turns until near dawn before dozing off, during the day she is tired and sluggish, making the whole family uneasy.
Ms. Ngo Mai Trang said that the family has installed additional heat-resistant curtains, adjusted the air conditioning temperature, reminded her mother-in-law to limit drinking tea in the evening and try to maintain a fixed bedtime.
Every night I go into the room to check if my mother is asleep. One day, it was almost 2 am, my mother-in-law was still awake, so the whole family also lost sleep. We tried to create a cool, quiet space and encourage my mother to relax before going to bed," Ms. Ngo Mai Trang shared.
In addition to adjusting the resting space, Ms. Trang also pays attention to her mother-in-law's diet.
''I often prioritize cooking cool, easy-to-digest dishes and supplementing foods that are said to support sleep such as lotus seeds, lotus hearts, oats, bananas or vegetable soups in dinner,'' said Ms. Ngo Mai Trang.
Similarly, Mr. Pham Minh Hoang (36 years old, Hanoi) said that summer is the time when his grandfather (84 years old) often wakes up many times at night. Not getting enough sleep makes him tired, eats poorly and is more irritable during the day.
According to Mr. Hoang, in addition to adjusting the room temperature, the family also limits letting him watch the phone before bedtime, turn on light music and walk with him in the late afternoon so that the body can fall asleep more easily.
“Previously, the whole family thought that just turning on the air conditioner would make him sleep better. Later, we realized that we also had to change our living habits to improve the situation somewhat,” Mr. Hoang said.
Need to adjust the sleeping environment and living habits
According to Dr. Tran Thi Hong Thu - Hong Thu Psychological Counseling and Therapy Office, many people believe that insomnia in the summer in the elderly is entirely due to hot weather, but this is only part of the cause.
For insomnia, the weather is only a part of the cause, insomnia due to hot weather has many different causes, especially in the elderly group," the doctor said.
Not only bedroom temperatures but also changes in summer living also contribute to reducing sleep quality.
Summer often causes many people to stay up late, use phones longer, have late dinners or use unsuitable air conditioners. These small changes can disrupt the biological clock and reduce sleep quality in the elderly," Dr. Tran Thi Hong Thu shared.
According to doctors, adjusting the sleeping environment and maintaining scientific living habits is an important solution to improve insomnia in the summer.
After a few nights of poor sleep, many elderly people start to worry that they will lose sleep again, and that anxiety makes it harder for the brain to relax. If sleep declines every summer, try looking back at both the sleeping environment and living habits to make appropriate adjustments," the doctor recommends.
Summer with hot weather can make insomnia in the elderly more serious. According to experts, besides adjusting room temperature, building a reasonable diet and maintaining stable living hours, the care and companionship of family members also play an important role, helping the elderly improve sleep quality and protect their health in hot sunny days.
