Daytime Naps Will Lower Your Risk Of Heart Attack According To New Study

If you have heart problems, you may consider taking more naps

For those who love to nap during the day may have been on to something all along. New studies have shown that having one or two daytime naps a week can reduce the risk of heart attack and stroke.

The study monitored 3,462 volunteers in Switzerland for an average of a little over five years, getting them to note down their napping habits and then comparing those habits with incidents of cardiovascular disease (CVD). What the researchers found was that occasional napping, either once or twice a week, was associated with a lower risk of heart attack, heart failure or stroke compared with not napping at all.

However, that association disappeared with more frequent napping and the link wasn’t present in people over the age of 65.

“While the exact physiological pathways linking daytime napping to cardiovascular disease risk is not clear, [this research] contributes to the ongoing debate on the health implications of napping, and suggests that it might not only be the duration, but also the frequency that matters,” a pair of psychiatry researchers who weren’t involved in the study write in an accompanying editorial published in the journal Heart.