Napping on a regular basis is associated with higher risks for high blood pressure and stroke, according to new research.
The study, conducted by researchers at Xiangya Hospital Central South University in China's Hunan, looked at 360,000 people in the UK between the ages of 40 and 69 years. It found that frequent napping was linked with high blood pressure, which contributes to stroke and heart attacks.
Participants provided information about their sleep habits, among other lifestyle factors, between 2006 and 2019.
They were followed up for an average of 11 years each. Participants were divided into groups based on self-reported napping frequency: “never/rarely,” “sometimes,” or “usually.”
The study found:
- When compared to people who reported never taking a nap, people who usually nap had a 12% higher likelihood of developing high blood pressure and 24% higher likelihood of having a stroke;
- Participants younger than age 60 who usually napped had a 20% higher risk of developing high blood pressure compared to people the same age who never napped. After age 60, usual napping was associated with 10% higher risk of high blood pressure compared to those who reported never napping;
- About three-fourths of participants remained in the same napping category throughout the study;
- If napping frequency increased by one category (from never to sometimes or sometimes to usually) high blood pressure risk increased 40%
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A higher percentage of usual-nappers were men
Dr E Wang, the study's corresponding author, said taking a nap in itself was not harmful.
However, napping could be a sign that someone was getting a poor night sleep, which in itself was linked with worse health outcomes.
Dr Wang said: "These results are especially interesting since millions of people might enjoy a regular, or even daily nap."
While a bad night's sleep - and a subsequent nap - every now and again wasn't going to kill you, the evidence points towards chronically bad sleepers being more likely to suffer from health conditions such as type 2 diabetes and heart disease.
According to sleep expert and professor of psychiatry at the University of Arizona in Tucson, Dr Michael A. Grandner, naps were "not enough" to offset the harms of sleep deprivation.
Dr Grandner said the study echoed other findings which generally showed that taking more naps seemed to reflect increased risks for problems with heart health and other issues.
He said: “This may be because, although taking a nap itself is not harmful, many people who take naps may do so because of poor sleep at night. Poor sleep at night is associated with poorer health, and naps are not enough to make up for that.
"This study echoes other findings that generally show that taking more naps seems to reflect increased risk for problems with heart health and other issues.”
The study was published today in Hypertension, an American Heart Association journal.
