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.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereComments are closed on this article