Study Ties Drop In Deaths To A Little Nap After Lunch
February 14th, 2007 by Anne
Publication: The Boston Globe
Author: Stephen Smith
Date: February 14, 2007
Could midday napping save your life?
In a study released yesterday, researchers at the Harvard School of Public Health and in Athens reported that Greeks who took regular 30-minute siestas were 37 percent less likely to die of heart disease over a six-year period than those who never napped. The scientists tracked more than 23,000 adults, finding that the benefits of napping were most pronounced for working men.
Researchers have long recognized that Mediterranean adults die of heart disease at a rate lower than Americans and Northern Europeans. Diets rich in olive oil and other heart-healthy foods have received some of the credit, but scientists have been intrigued by the potential role of napping.
The study, published in the Archives of Internal Medicine, concluded that napping was more likely than diet or physical activity to lower the incidence of heart attacks and other life-ending heart ailments.
Still, the authors cautioned that further research is needed to confirm their findings.
“We don’t want the world to start sleeping in the afternoon yet. A single study never conveys a public health message,” said Dr. Dimitrios Trichopoulos , a Harvard professor and author of the study, who says he stopped napping when he moved to the United States 20 years ago.
Specialists not involved with the study said there are sound biochemical reasons to believe that a nap may help protect against heart disease.
Essentially, they said, sleep at any time of day acts like a valve to release the stress of everyday life. Blood pressure is reduced and heart rates slow. At the same time, the immune system shores itself up. Increasingly, researchers are recognizing the role the immune system plays in heart disease.
“We all know that the three pillars of health are diet, exercise, and sleep, and, sometimes, people forget about the importance of sleep,” said Dr. Alex Chediak , president-elect of the American Academy of Sleep Medicine and a University of Miami researcher.
Nighttime sleep has been much more thoroughly studied than napping. But researchers assumed that the benefits of nighttime sleep accrue from naps as well.
The study released yesterday is believed to be the largest ever to examine the link between napping and health. Napping, researchers believe, allows people a chance to reset their heart rates and blood pressure in the middle of the day.
The researchers quizzed study participants about their siesta habits, defining regular nappers as those who took a midday break at least three times a week, with the nap lasting a minimum of 30 minutes. It was that group that derived the greatest benefit, with a coronary death rate substantially lower than Greeks who didn’t nap. The effect was far more modest among those who napped only occasionally, and was not considered statistically meaningful.
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