New research says regular meditation might improve sleep quality and also prevent insomnia among older people.

Mindfulness meditation practice is when people learn to pay better attention to what they are feeling physically and mentally from moment to moment. It results in improved sleep quality for older adults.

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Sleep disturbances are a medical and public health concern among the aging population. An estimated 50 percent of individuals 55 years and older have some sort of sleep problem.

Moderate sleep disturbances in older adults are associated with higher levels of fatigue, disturbed mood, such as depressive symptoms, and a reduced quality of life, according to the study.

Researchers conducted the small clinical trial in Los Angeles in 2012 involving 49 individuals (average age 66). The trial included 24 individuals who took part in a standardized mindful awareness practices (MAPs) intervention and 25 individuals who participated in a sleep hygiene education (SHE) intervention.

Participants in the MAPs group showed improvement compared to those in the SHE group. The MAPs group also showed improvement as compared to the SHE group on secondary measures of symptoms of insomnia, depression, fatigue interference and its severity.

Differences between the groups were not seen for anxiety, stress or inflammatory signaling, a measure of which declined in both groups over time.

The article was published online by JAMA Internal Medicine.

TagsMindfulness Meditation, Meditation, Sleeping, sleep quality, Insomnia, Sleep disturbances, sleep deprivation