Seven Key Insights from the Integrative Practitioner Digital Summit on Aging and Longevity

4. Sleep is an Effective Anti-Aging Medicine

Not only does sleep quality reduce with age, but insufficient sleep can also further accelerate the aging process, said Darley.

Sleep is essential for staying biologically young via many mechanisms, according to Darley. Among the most consequential impacts of insufficient sleep on biological age is degradation of telomeres, which protect DNA from fraying.

“A shorter telomere is a sign of aging,” Darley said. “We want our telomeres to be nice and long, so our DNA is protected and able to replicate accurately.”

According to Darley, sleep disturbance can also accelerate epigenetic aging, determined by evaluating distinct methylation changes to DNA. In addition, she said it can increase markers for cellular senescence and chronic, low-grade inflammation associated with aging, known as inflamm-aging.

Growth hormones, which are primarily secreted during slow wave sleep, are also decreased as people age, and get less sleep, said Darley. Essential to stay vital, growth hormones act to regulate metabolism, reduce stored fats in fat cells, promote protein synthesis and muscle mass, aid in skin health, and regulate blood sugar.

While a lack of sleep can increase biological age, lifestyle interventions that promote quality sleep can slow or even help reverse biological aging. According to Darley, simple changes like getting up at the same time each day, getting bright light in the morning, and dimming the light three hours before bed can have major impacts on sleep quality.

Darley said she acknowledges that for most patients, sleep is not a priority, but she said it’s up to healthcare providers to educate and stress the importance of sleep.

“Ask your patients, ‘do you want long days where you’re depriving yourself of sleep, or do you want to have a long healthy life,’” Darley said. “I think that’s a choice people are making that they may not be aware of.”