THOSE of a certain age feel at times that they are faced with a world, forever full of changes, with which they have difficulty coping.

I think, for example, of the major changes, in a generation, in communications, lack of respect for authority in all its forms, and societal standards.

Now we read that older adults should be aware that sleeping aids obtained over-the- counter can increase the chances of developing Alzheimer's (" Hay fever and sleeping pills raise the risk of Alzheimer's", The Herald January 27).

Some of us, who are over the qualifying age for the bus pass, find it difficult to fall asleep at night and perchancing to dream is an uphill struggle.

Sometimes we will awake during the night, perhaps several times, and, as a result, we don't feel well-rested the next day and are viewed by some as being irritable, or even grumpy.

There can be many different reasons for this state of affairs, the most common probably being anxiety. Shakespeare wrote in Romeo and Juliet :

"Care keeps his watch in every old man's eye,

And where care lodges, sleep will never lie."

Whatever the actual cause of sleeplessness, many will have resorted to what are described as anticholinergic drugs in one form or another to try and assist with the condition. Now we are told that such drugs can facilitate the onset of mental impairment.

What is one to do? Could it be that one should just keep popping the pills in the knowledge that eventually, as a result, we should just forget to take them?

Ian W Thomson,

38 Kirkintilloch Road,

Lenzie.