Bad Sleepers Hurry Death: Snoozing soundly staves off the Big Sleep

For many people, a good night’s sleep is rare. Surveys indicate that around one in three older adults, ages 55 and up, experiences chronic insomnia or other sleep disturbances. The news gets worse.

Among a group of healthy elderly people tracked for an average of 13 years, those who had difficulty falling or staying asleep died from natural causes at a much higher rate than those who slept well, according to a report in January/February Psychosomatic Medicine.