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Freed from work stress, pensioners sleep soundly

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Freed from work stress, pensioners sleep soundly
Photo: DPA

Freshly retired Germans tend to sleep better than their working counterparts, a study released on Wednesday suggested. But as old age sets in, getting good-quality shut-eye becomes increasingly difficult.

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At least one in three adults have, at some point in their lives, suffered from sleep problems – an epidemic experts have linked to career and family-related stress.

But with retirement – and a break from professional strain – comes brief nocturnal respite, scientists from Basel University and the German Institute for Economic Research believe. Their results are to be published in The Journals of Gerontology Series B, said Frankfurter Rundschau regional paper.

Of the 14,200 men and women between the ages of 18 and 85 studied by the team, those between 18 and 60 were notably less happy with the quality of sleep they were getting than those over 60.

Unfortunately, when people hit 66 the quality of sleep seemed to disintegrate – as reaching deep sleep becomes difficult and getting tired in the daytime becomes more popular.

And because maintaining deep levels of sleep is difficult, older people wake up more easily. Children and young adults often slip into heavy slumber more easily and so are harder to wake, meaning they get solid, uninterrupted shut-eye.

The Local/jcw

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