Senior Living: Sleep Sliding Away

by Maria LaPiana

Ann R. of Fairfied was just on the other side of 50 when she first became aware of her sleep. It happened while she was awake.
“I noticed I was dragging all day. I had no energy, and had to take a nap every single day,” she remembers. “It got so I didn’t want to run errands and I started avoiding people because I was too tired to talk to anyone. It got worse. I found I was eating all the wrong things just for the sugar boost.”
It wasn’t until Ann started snoring (“My husband told me it was getting louder but I didn’t believe it until I started waking myself up during the night”) that she put two and too-little sleep together.
She saw her primary care physician and was tested “for all kinds of things—anemia, low blood sugar, etc.” But when those tests all came back negative, they began to explore the possibility that she might have a sleep disorder. Consequently, she saw a specialist who performed a series of diagnostic tests, including overnight observation in a sleep “lab.”

 http://www.connecticutmag.com/Connecticut-Magazine/August-2011/Senior-Living-Sleep-Sliding-Away/

How retirees spend their days

Watching television is the second-most-popular activity -- after sleeping.

Many people dream about how they will spend the eight or more extra hours per day they will have once they no longer need to go to work. However, Americans between ages 65 and 74 spend only about 1.7 more hours per day on leisure activities than the population as a whole, according to the most recent American Time Use Survey, released by the Bureau of Labor Statistics last week.

Instead, most older Americans spend their extra free time lingering slightly longer over everyday activities like meals and household chores, and they watch considerably more TV than the population as a whole. Here is how Americans spend their time in retirement:

http://money.msn.com/saving-money-tips/post.aspx?post=cd3ede34-5e49-45ef-992a-856a547fa87c