Insomnia in seniors doesn’t differ from the insomnia in younger people, but they are at higher risk for developing the disorder. Here’s how CBD might help.

Insomnia can affect people of all ages and fitness levels. It’s a condition that arises due to myriad reasons. The cause can be internal (disease) or external (stress). One of the main problems with insomnia is that it directly impacts your performance and health; when people don’t sleep, they have problems staying productive and keeping a balanced mood. It can also affect your cardiovascular health and immune system.

Could CBD provide a healthy option for seniors with sleep issues? The answer depends on the problem that’s causing their lack of sleep in the first place.

As people age, they naturally experience changes with their sleep patterns, mainly because aging bodies produce smaller amounts of growth hormone. This change results in less deep sleep, waking up during the night, and often waking up too early, before the body is fully rested.

Aside from biological reasons, insomnia in seniors doesn’t differ from the insomnia in younger people, but they are at higher risk for developing the disorder. Causes like stress, depression, anxiety, trauma and medications that people are consuming might all affect how well they sleep. It’s this area that CBD proves to be a helpful tool. 

The relationship between CBD and sleep hasn’t been rigorously studied, but CBD’s effect on stress, anxiety and PTSD does have some documentation. In a 2019 study examining CBD, anxiety and sleep, researchers found that patients battling these conditions improved their sleep habits by a large margin once they started consuming CBD. It’s worth noting that this study was conducted in a controlled setting, with patients consuming CBD in addition to their traditional medications.

When it comes to treating insomnia, it’s very important to try to pinpoint the source of the problem. No matter someone’s age, quality of sleep tends to reflect their state of mind and the possible problems they might be facing, whether this includes a mental condition or a stressful moment in their lives. While CBD might not directly affect sleep, it could indirectly provide relief for conditions that are keeping seniors up at night.