Sleep disorders in elderly by Dr Vishal Sehgal, Medical Director, Portea Medical

Sleep disorders are a common occurrence in the elderly and there are various studies to show a correlation between the two as well. With age, there is a change in sleep patterns and habits. Due to this, the elderly may have trouble falling asleep, sleep for lesser hours, wake up frequently at night or even get a poor quality of sleep. Sleep disorders can also be an outcome of certain medical conditions such as Parkinson’s, Alzheimer’s, arthritis, heart diseases, and even poor bladder control. There are certain things that the elderly or their caregivers can do to help them get better sleep.

• Try going to bed and waking up around the same time every day.
  
• Make sure there is no screen time before going to bed. It is ok to read a book or listen to some calming music before sleeping.
  
• Make sure there are no bright lights in the room. Keep the bedroom environment soothing and comfortable.
  
• Try avoiding long naps in the daytime.

For your reference, Portea Medical (www.portea.com) is India’s leading consumer healthcare provider and focuses on general primary health care, post-hospitalization care, chronic disease management and allied services. The company offers home visits from doctors, nurses, nursing attendants and physiotherapists. In addition, Portea also provides collection of lab samples and offers medical equipment for sale / on hire, bringing the entire gamut of healthcare services to a patient’s doorstep. Since its inception in 2013, Portea has completed more than 3.4 million patient visits across the country. The company manages ~ 120,000+ patient visits each month. In the wake of the pandemic, Portea introduced new services such as chemotherapy and dialysis at home. They are also offering home quarantine services for those who have tested positive for Covid-19 but display only mild symptoms or are asymptomatic. They have supported over 35000 Covid positive patients in the last two months, across different states and have also partnered with State Governments. Going forward, we plan to diversify into other much-needed verticals including training of medical workers and innovation.