Aging is often associated with complaints of difficulties with sleep, as evidenced by reports that up to 50% of older US adults complain of chronic trouble with sleep.1 Research has found that a number of normal changes in sleep occur with aging, which may explain some of these complaints.2 However, there are a variety of conditions that may account for the sleep difficulties experienced by many older adults, including specific sleep disorders, circadian rhythm disturbances, and medical and psychiatric comorbidities.

It is a widely known fact that Fyodor Dostoevsky, the famous 19th-century Russian novelist, suffered from epilepsy for most of his life. However, not too many persons are aware that Dostoevsky also had a sleep disorder called delayed sleep phase syndrome, which may have contributed to his seizures.1 Although no one knows for certain, it is quite conceivable that Dostoevsky's sleep disorder worsened his epilepsy, according to Carl Bazil, MD, PhD, director of Clinical Anticonvulsant Drug Trials and director of the Neurology Division, Columbia Comprehensive Sleep Center, Columbia University, New York.