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Cardiovascular diseases account for the maximum deaths in a year around the world. That itself is enough to be alert why. The risks surrounding it are constantly on the rise. If you have been struggling with the risks of heart attacks or strokes, daytime naps occasionally can help.
A new study (R) conducted by the researchers and published in the online medical journal, Heart suggest that taking a daytime nap once or twice a week help reduce risks of heart attacks and strokes. This doesn’t have improved impacts if the frequency of the naps is increased though. You can’t also get better impacts if the duration of the naps is increased as well.
The impacts of naps on cardiovascular health have been under constant debate. Several studies have already been published regarding that. The only thing missing in them is the frequency of the naps and the impacts they have.
The studies also focus on the cardiovascular disease deaths in comparison to the regular nappers. There have been comparisons between the non-nappers with the nappers as well. There was no set answer as to why it is related, until now.
The study was conducted with the 3462 residents from Lausanne, Switzerland. The researchers looked into the connection between the napping frequency and average nap duration. They also assessed the risks of the fatal and non fatal issues related to cardiovascular health. Some of them include heart attacks, strokes and heart failure.
The participants were in between the age of 35-75 years when the CoLaus study started. The main objective of the study was to see the factors behind the development of each of the cardiovascular issues.
The participants had their first check up in between the years of 2009 and 2012. During the checkup, the researchers collected data around their sleeping pattern, especially naps in the previous week. Following that, there health was monitored for the consecutive 5 years.
Around 2014 participants, which was 58%, said they didn’t get any nap the previous week. 667 participants, which was 19% said that they took either one or two naps during the last week. 411 participants, which was 12%, said they could catch up on three to five naps in the prior week. 370 participants, which was 11% said they has over five naps the prior week.
The frequent nappers included the people who had 3-7 naps during the day. They included the older men, smokers and even the overweight individuals. They are also the ones who sleep longer during the night in comparison to the non-nappers.
These demographic of the participants also reported to suffer from daytime sleepiness. Additionally, they also had sleep apnea. It is a condition in which the individual lose their breathing pattern and experience obstruction in breathing for a few seconds during sleep.
Through the study, the researchers reported 155 fatal and non-fatal cardiovascular issues throughout.
The occasional nappers who napped once or twice a week halved their risk of heart issues by around 48%. This was in comparison to the individuals who didn’t nap at all.
For assessing these, there were several factors taken into account. Some of the factors involved included age, nighttime sleep routine and even the blood pressure and cholesterol levels.
With the findings, the researchers found a 67% decrease in the cardiovascular risk in the frequent nappers. The same wasn’t dependent on the frequency of the naps and the duration of the naps as well. It could very well be something between 1 minute to 1 hour.
The study is mainly observational. What this means is that the researchers aren’t able to pinpoint certain cause behind the induction of the condition.
The frequency of the nap can be effective enough to help establish the impacts it has on heart health.
Drs Yue Leng and Kristine Yaffe, of the University of California at San Francisco, USA suggested that it is still premature to conclude the study. There needs to be more studies conducted to find the cause and establish the efforts involved.
Even though the daytime napping is still a matter of question on the cardiovascular health, more studies are been conducted to establish better findings from time to time. How occasional napping can help reduce heart attacks and strokes still needs to be found.
