Sleep, flab and growth hormone:

A recent article in the Journal of the American Medical Association found that the decline in deep sleep that occurs with aging is accompanied by a loss of growth hormone. Loss of sleep happens to all of us as we age. It is harder to fall asleep, we wake up more frequently and have a more difficult time trying to get back to sleep. We also don't get much of the deep sleep that invigorates us. This deep sleep is also the time when most of our growth hormone is made. With less sleep, less growth hormone is manufactured. Growth hormone is needed during our youth to reach our eventual height and build. However, after we stop growing, it plays an important role in maintaining other important bodily functions including the maintenance of our muscle mass. With aging, growth hormone levels decline and we lose muscle mass and develop flab. Don't reach for the bottle of sleeping pills or growth hormone yet. We still have to determine whether improving the sleep of older persons will improve growth hormone levels and remove that flab.