Are naps good for health?
“What do you think they’re going to do to us when they find us guilty?” she says after a few minutes of silence.
“Honestly?”
“Does now seem like the time for honesty?”
I look at her from the corner of my eye. “I think they will force us to eat lots of cake and then take an unreasonably long nap.”
― Veronica Roth, Insurgent
IS GETTING AN AFTERNOON NAP A GLORIOUS EVENT in your day? Perhaps you have young children and greatly value any added rest.
I often feel better after a short nap (and fuzzy if the snooze runs for more than approximately 30 minutes).
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention indicates that one-third of adults don’t get the recommended seven hours of nightly sleep for those who live in the United States.
Enter the nap. Do you do it? If so, might it signal inadequate nocturnal sleep? Might it signal health problems? Today, we explore how to think about napping.
Sleep — It’s essential
We need adequate sleep for optimal physical and psychological health. The American Academy of Sleep Medicine and Sleep Research Society recommends adults (18 to 60 years) sleep seven or more hours nightly.
The National Sleep Foundation consensus report specifies seven to nine hours for adults 18 to 60 years and seven to eight hours for those 65 or older.
Acute consequences of inadequate sleep
In the short term, insufficient sleep has negative consequences for cognition. A study of 48 subjects randomized to four, six, or wight hours of sleep nightly for 14 days versus a three-night period without sleep showed this:
The restriction of sleep to six hours or less nightly led to a cognitive hit equivalent to two nights of total sleep deprivation. Moreover, the participants appeared largely unaware of their increasing cognitive deficits.
Here’s a real-world example: A University of Wisconsin (USA) study examined outcomes of screening colonoscopies. The detection of abnormalities (adenomas) appeared lower when clinicians had done emergency on-call procedures the night before.
Anxiety or depression can result from insufficient sleep, with many reporting low energy, irritability, diminished libido, poor mood and judgment, and other symptoms. Fortunately, these symptoms typically improve once adequate sleep returns.
The chronic consequence of inadequate sleep
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