Being locked up at home can often end in one (or many) long naps after getting bored, as the days seem longer since the “quarantine” began . However, if you are one of those who wakes up without knowing the day and time when the sun has already set, you should know that you could be putting your health at risk.
“Whoever is free from sin, cast the first stone,” my grandmother would say. And the truth is that since the confinement caused by the Covid-19 pandemic began , naps have been a habit for many. I confess that at the beginning of this, I was one of them and the truth is that I enjoyed them, but at the same time I suffered.
In general I must say that naps are forbidden , not medically, but personally, because what for some may be a 20 or 30 minute lash , for me becomes a period of at least one hour (although here we , I have arrived at 3 hours).
Sometimes they have been caused by medications and others by not getting enough sleep just as a result of naps, but it is definitely something that you and I should stop doing.
Cardiovascular risk related to long naps
That’s right, although many of us love to sleep and naps are part of this quarantine , they are not as harmless as they seem, at least not when they are prolonged, this was revealed by a study presented at the Congress of the European Society of Cardiology in 2020.
The author of this research is Dr. She Pan of Guangzhou Medical University, China, who challenges the idea that for years has been passed that these ” eyelashes ” can improve performance . Although of course, he is not the only one who has studied this negative effect of naps , however sometimes the results have been contradictory.
On this occasion, Dr. She Pan’s study summarized the evidence available to evaluate the relationship between naps and the risks of death from any cause and cardiovascular disease , including the analysis of 313 thousand 651 participants from more than 20 studies of the of which 39% took naps.
In this sense, it was found that naps that exceeded 60 minutes had an association with a 30% higher risk of death from any cause and 34% more likely to suffer from cardiovascular disease compared to people who did not take naps.
This is especially important for those who, in addition to their naps, sleep more than 6 hours at night, which was associated with a high risk of death . But there is good news, because when your “dream” lasts less than 1 hour , there appears to be no risk of developing cardiovascular disease .
In fact, the recommendation of the head of the study is that, if you are going to take a nap , it should be 30 to 45 minutes, because instead of affecting your body, it could improve the health of your heart , especially if your sleep is insufficient at night.
Of course, as in all studies, we should not overinterpret the results, since the reasons for these damages have not been fully clarified, although most of them point to higher levels of inflammation, dangerous for our heart.
Therefore, the best thing is that if you need to recharge your batteries for a bad night or a very busy morning, never exceed the time, so you will not only prevent possible risks to your heart , you will also avoid walking like a zombie when you wake up (I say this from experience ) and you will be able to sleep and rest better at night .
We know that there are days when it is impossible not to ” take an eyelash “, Mayo Clinic specialists know this and recommend considering them in cases such as when you feel sudden fatigue or lose hours of sleep , such as when a guard awaits you at work or a long night.
However, the ideal is that these are between 10 and 20 minutes , do not take place too late (they recommend before 3 pm) to avoid interfering with your sleep at night and carry them out in a restful environment , that is, quiet and dark.
Sure, the duration and time of naps depend a lot on your age and condition, but it is important that if you feel that you “do not survive” without a nap and there is no reason that you can locate as the cause of your fatigue, you consult with your doctor. as it could be a medication or even a sleep disorder .
On how much you should sleep , experts point out that in adulthood between 7 and 9 hours of sleep are fine. It is important to do everything possible to meet at least your 7 hours, because even if you feel that you rest with less, your performance and health can be affected.
Sleep is very important for our life, as it helps our body to process new information, while it helps you stay rested , always remember to take care of your sleep, rest and not abuse naps . A long nap could not only put your heart at risk , but also your performance and make you spend a sleepless night.
