Poor sleep may do more than leave people feeling tired. Growing research suggests that chronic sleep problems could be linked to faster Insomnia Treatment biological aging, and a new randomized controlled trial offers preliminary evidence that treating insomnia may help slow that process.
A 2025 study involving brain scans of around 27,000 adults found that people reporting poor sleep had central nervous systems that appeared older than expected. Earlier research has also suggested that even short periods of disrupted sleep can make people feel considerably older. Now, researchers have examined whether treating insomnia could influence the pace at which the body ages.
CBT Shows Potential Benefits
The study included nearly 100 adults aged 60 and older who had insomnia. They were drawn from a larger clinical trial involving 291 participants who were randomly assigned to receive either cognitive behavioral therapy for insomnia (CBT-I) or sleep education.
CBT-I typically involves several sessions with a trained clinician. Patients learn to identify and change thoughts, behaviors and habits that may interfere with falling asleep, staying asleep or maintaining a consistent sleep schedule.
Sleep education, by comparison, focuses on providing general information about healthy sleeping habits without introducing specific behavioral techniques. Researchers collected blood samples before treatment and again for up to two years afterward to examine markers associated with biological aging.
Biological Aging Measured Through an “Aging Clock”
The researchers used several measures of biological aging, including DunedinPACE, an epigenetic “aging clock” developed using long-term health data.
Rather than measuring a person’s chronological age, DunedinPACE estimates the speed at which biological aging is occurring. The measure is based on changes in DNA associated with aging and has been linked to risks of chronic disease and mortality.
The study found significant increases in the pace of aging across some measures. However, participants who received CBT for Insomnia Treatment showed a slower pace of biological aging according to DunedinPACE compared with those receiving sleep education.
The findings do not establish that treating insomnia directly extends lifespan or reverses aging. The researchers also describe the results as preliminary and note that further studies are needed to confirm the association.
A Potential New Benefit of Better Sleep
Researchers from the University of California, Los Angeles, said the study is the first, to their knowledge, to examine whether insomnia treatment can influence the pace of biological aging. The findings suggest that improving sleep through evidence-based behavioral treatment could have benefits beyond nighttime rest, particularly for older adults experiencing persistent insomnia.
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