According to new research, the health benefits of short mid-day naps could include a reduced chance of heart attack and lowered blood pressure.
Led by Dr. Manolis Kallistratos of Asklepieion General Hospital in Athens, the study also found a link between mid-day naps and a reduced need for antihypertensive medications. The research was revealed at the annual congress of the European Society of Cardiology in London.
“Although William Blake affirms that it’s better to think in the morning, act at noon, eat in the evening and sleep at night, noon sleep seems to have beneficial effects,” Kallistratos said at the conference according to Metro.co.uk.
AVERAGE 5 PERCENT BLOOD PRESSURE REDUCED
Reduced blood pressure by about 5 percent on average was found in those tested while they were awake during the day after their nap, and as they slept at night.
The general health effects of naps are contested by researchers, and they vary depending on the health of the person taking it as well as the length of the nap. As the Daily News reports, factors such as age, gender, exercise habits, caffeine and smoking habits, as well as body mass index and diet were measured by the Greek researchers.
CHURCHILL AND THATCHER WERE RIGHT
According to The Telegraph, Kallistratos mentioned two famous British prime ministers at the London conference who napped during the day: Winston Churchill and Margaret Thatcher. “According to our study they were right because midday naps seem to lower blood pressure levels and may probably also decrease the number of required antihypertensive medications,” Kallistratos said.
THE LENGTH OF YOUR NAPS MATTER
In Kallistratos’ study, the nap lasted an hour. Longer naps (over an hour) have been linked to poor health in the past. A study by Cambridge University last year found that people who nap for more than an hour tend to die younger than those who don’t.
HOW THE STUDY WAS DONE
Kallistratos and his team performed various tests on 386 patients, the median age of whom was 61 years old, at the Asklepieion General Hospital. All of the 200 men and 186 women had arterial hypertension.
The researchers recorded the subjects’ pulse wave velocity and gauged their arterial stiffness with an echocardiographic evaluation that measured the heart’s left atrial appendage.
