Health Tips Tuesday: study examines health impacts from napping

SPRINGFIELD, MA (WGGB/WSHM) - New research published in the American Heart Association Journal has found that napping on a regular basis has increase of high blood pressure and stroke.

Dr. Karin Johnson, a neurologist at Baystate Health, spoke to Western Mass News to discuss these findings and the importance of quality sleep.

Are naps an unhealthy practice based of your research you guys have found?

Johnson: “So there was a study that looked at napping and showed that there were was a higher risk of high blood pressure and strokes in people that take naps, so again, it brought up the issue is that are naps bad or good and it really depends on why people are napping. Often, napping can because someone is not sleeping enough or getting good quality of sleep and that’s probably the people who are higher risk of those health problems.”

What is the proper amount of adequate sleep for adults and children?

Johnson: “Okay, so we typically say for most adults to get seven to eight hours of sleep. Depending on the age, children can need often anywhere from nine to 13 hours of sleep.”

What would happen if you don’t get the proper amount of sleep?

Johnson: “Obviously, there’s symptoms feeling tired or diffuculty with your focus or tension, which can lead to things like car accidents or not performing as well on a job, but also sleep is really important for health, so again, we talked about issue like hypertension and stroke, but even disorders like Alzeimher’s disease can happen more if there are sleep problems. We need sleep to clear toxins away from the brain and create energy and to stregthen our immune system as well.”

Would you recommend naps for someone who is not getting enough sleep or do you think it’s not a good thing?

“So you know, if the option is between getting enough sleep or using naps, I would recommend napping obviously and try to focus on whether you can get enough sleep at night and whether if you are getting good enough quality sleep is more important.
So if you think you are getting enough sleep at night and your still need naps, that is definetly when you should come see a sleep doctor and see if there is something more going on.”

Copyright 2022. Western Mass News (WGGB/WSHM). All rights reserved.