Welcome to Dr. Mercola's cellular wisdom. Stay informed with quick, easy-to-listen

summaries of our latest articles, perfect for when you're on the go. No reading required. Subscribe

for free at Mercola.com for the latest health insights. When you lie awake at 2 a.m. Have you ever

considered that every minute spent staring at the ceiling could make climbing

the stairs harder next year?

Welcome to Dr. Mercola's cellular wisdom.

I'm Ethan Foster, and today we're connecting the dots between restless nights, the pills

many people take to silence them, and the gradual loss of independence that too often follows.

Tonight's episode will show you why even small, consistent improvements in how you sleep can become one of the most powerful levers you have to protect mobility, confidence,

and personal freedom as the years add up.

I'm Alara Sky. A new analysis tracking 6,722 community-dwelling Medicare beneficiaries, people still living in their

own homes, found that both insomnia and the use of sleep medication independently

raised disability scores.

These scores measure real-life abilities, bathing, dressing, eating, and simply walking across a room.

Participants averaged 76 years old, with varied health histories, making the findings highly

applicable to a broad aging audience.

The data show that what happens in your bedroom after dark shapes what you can do in broad daylight.

The numbers were unambiguous, even moving from never to about once a week for insomnia.

Symptoms Nudge disability scores upward the next year.

Elara, why does a seemingly small change in sleep frequency trigger such a measurable physical

cost?

The investigators weren't probing

...