As I read Sleep: A Very Short Introduction, I found it interesting that there is a term used to describe the act of waking up in the middle of the night and going to the bathroom. Although nocturia affects roughly 1/3 of older adults, it still effects some younger adults and "when chronic, is associated with poor health outcomes and increased mortality." I think its crazy that this is considered insomnia, because probably like most other Americans, I thought this what just something that happened to all of us.
Source: Sleep: A Very Short Introduction by Steven W. Locksley & Russell G. Foster
I thought the same thing when I read it! I thought it happened to everyone, and I was surprised and relived that it had a name. Sometimes that makes it better to know it is an actual thing. I wonder if they broke down the number of people with this condition by age what the numbers would look like?
ReplyDeleteRemember that we would only call getting up and going in the night "nocturia" if it happened chronically. If you go before bed and don't drink a ton of water after that, you probably shouldn't need to go during the night very often at your age.
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