Is it good to take a nap?

Napping is healthy and offers many benefits, but a new study suggests it may do more harm than good.

“People who sleep often are more likely to develop hypertension and suffer a stroke“, as detailed in the report of an American university.

“This may be because while napping itself is not harmful, many people may do so because of poor night sleep. Poor night sleep is associated with poorer health. and naps are not enough to make up for it, “ Clinical psychologist Michael Grandner said this in a statement.

Grandner directs the Banner University Medical Center Sleep Medicine Clinic in Tucson, Arizona and was not involved in the study.

How the study was carried out

The study used data from 360,000 participants who had provided information about their napping habits at the Biobank United Kingdoma large database and research resource that followed UK residents from 2006 to 2010.

Study participants regularly provided blood, urine, and saliva samplesand answered napping questions four times in the four years of the study.

However, the study only collected the frequency of naps, not their duration, and relied on self-reports of naps, a limitation due to imperfect memory.

Can little sleep cause hypertension?

Study participants who used to nap during the day were 12% more likely to develop high blood pressure over time and 24% more likely to have a strokecompared to people who have never taken a nap.

If the person was under the age of 60, napping most days increased their risk of developing high blood pressure by 20 percent compared to people who never or rarely rest, according to the study published Monday in high blood pressurean American Heart Association newspaper.

This association added that sleep duration is one of its eight essential parameters for optimal heart and brain health.

The results that put the siesta in check

The study results held up even after the researchers ruled out people at high risk for hypertension, such as those with type 2 diabetesexisting hypertension, high cholesterolsleep disturbances and those who worked the night shift.

“The results show that napping increases the incidence of hypertension and stroke, after adjusting or accounting for many variables known to be associated with these conditions,” said Phyllis Zee, MD, director of the Center for Circadian Medicine and of dreaming. from Feinberg School of Medicine of Northwestern University in Chicago.

“From a clinical point of view, I think it underscores the importance of healthcare professionals regularly asking patients to take naps and excessive daytime sleepiness and to evaluate other conditions that potentially contribute to changing the risk of cardiovascular disease,” said Zee. , who was not involved in the study but provided testimony to reinforce the findings.