Daytime naps may benefit heart health, study

Naps are not a lazy indulgence but are linked to a healthy heart. According to a new study, taking naps once or twice a week can lower the risk of heart attacks or strokes.

Researchers from the University Hospital of Lausanne, Switzerland found that adults who took one or two daytime naps per week had a lower risk of heart problems, including heart disease and strokes than non-nappers.

The study published in Heart, the journal of the British Cardiovascular Society, tracked 3,462 people between the ages of 35 and 75 for just over five years. The findings were that those who take naps ranging between five minutes to an hour once or twice a week are 48% less likely to suffer a heart attack, stroke or failure.

“Subjects who nap once or twice per week have a lower risk of incident CVD (cardiovascular disease) events, while no association was found for more frequent napping or napping duration,” the report authors said.

Naveed Sattar, Professor of Metabolic Medicine at the University of Glasgow, found this study “interesting”. He said that it seems that napping once or twice a week is linked to healthier or organized lifestyles but those who napped daily were likely to be more sick.

“More regular napping likely represents sub-clinical illness linked to poorer lifestyle. This would then explain the differential risks,” Sattar said.