Is napping everyday good for you?
Study participants who habitually napped during the day were 12 percent more likely to develop high blood pressure
You've come home from work, you've plopped down on the couch and you're dying to rest, and that rest quickly turns into a nap because your head is falling. If you happen to fall asleep every day or doze off often, the chances of getting certain diseases are higher, a new study has shown.
"Napping in itself is not harmful, but many people who regularly nap do so because they slept poorly during the night. Bad sleep is associated with a weaker general state of the body, and naps cannot compensate for that" - says clinical psychologist Michael Grandner.
Study participants who habitually napped during the day were 12 percent more likely to develop high blood pressure and even 24 percent more likely to have a stroke. If the person is under 60 years of age, regular naps increased the risk of developing high blood pressure later in life by 20 percent, compared to people who rarely nap.
These are the brief conclusions of the study published in the professional medical journal Hypertension published by the American Heart Association, which determined the length of sleep as one of the eight parameters required for optimal heart and brain health.
The results remained consistent even when the experts removed from the list all those with type 2 diabetes, existing high blood pressure, increased cholesterol, sleep disorders, and even those who worked night shifts.
"The results showed that napping increases the occurrence of hypertension and stroke, even after adjusting the criteria and removing many variables that are already associated with the risk of cardiovascular diseases and stroke" - explains Dr. Phyllis Zee.
According to experts, the findings further underscore the need for doctors to ask their patients about napping and factor that into their health assessment. The study did not take into account the length of naps, only the frequency.
"They did not define what exactly is meant by a nap. If you're going to sleep for an hour or two, it's not really a nap. A refreshing nap of 15 to 20 minutes around noon and early afternoon is completely justified if you are sleep-deprived", says sleep specialist Dr. Raj Dasgupta from the University of Southern California.
Post by: Rinna James
