The Pros and Cons of Afternoon Naps

Research has found that adults over the age of 60 who took afternoon naps scored higher on a cognitive test for mental agility than those who didn’t nap.

The research team, led by Dr. Lin Sun, studied physical and cognitive health in 2,214 people over age 60 residing in large cities in China. 1,534 of these people took regular afternoon naps while 680 did not. For both groups, nappers, and non-nappers, the average length of nighttime sleep was around 6.5 hours.

All of the participants had to undergo health checks and cognitive assessments. They also underwent the Mini-Mental State Exam (MMSE) to check for dementia, which included 30 items measuring several aspects of cognitive ability and higher function such as visuospatial skills, working memory, attention span, problem solving, locational awareness, and verbal fluency.

The cognitive performance scores for MMSE were significantly higher among the nappers than non-nappers. There was also a significant difference in the scores for locational awareness, verbal fluency, and memory.

Davina Ramkissoon, wellbeing director, states that sleep has a lot to do with the capacity to learn. Napping helps the brain recover from burnout or overload of information as it clears out unnecessary information from its temporary storage areas to prepare it for new information to be absorbed, she explains.

Afternoon naps were referred to as getting at least five consecutive minutes of sleep but no more than 2 hours, anytime after lunch. How often they napped during a typical week ranged from once a week to daily.

The researchers have a few possible explanations for napping. They explain that when a disease or cell damage occurs, napping may help regulate the inflammatory response. People with higher levels of inflammation also nap more often.

Findings also showed that regular nappers had higher levels of triglycerides than non-nappers. This could be because those with more sedentary lifestyles are more likely to take a nap.

Katherine Hall, sleep coach, suggests that an ideal, healthy nap should be taken in the afternoon between 1 p.m. and 3 p.m. lasting between 10 to 30 minutes. She adds that napping is great for improving mood, energy, and productivity while reducing anxiety and physical and mental tension.

A short afternoon nap can increase alertness and eliminate “sleep inertia” (confusion, disorientation, and grogginess felt upon waking). In contrast, a slightly longer nap, say 60 minutes, can aid learning, Hall says. The brain will start to transfer memories from the temporary holding facility (the hippocampus) to the cortex, which is permanent.

However, Dr. Abhinav Singh, a sleep medicine specialist, says that longer naps may be problematic. He states that a two-hour nap suggests that more pathology may be hidden, causing the need for increased napping.

He explains “Napping for longer than 1 hour could be a signal that your nighttime sleep quantity and or quality is not enough. Many sleep disorders could be hiding and depleting your sleep quantity and or quality… Poor sleep habits could also be at play. This is often noted in the age of screens and bright lights and long work hours.”

He adds that certain medical conditions or certain blood pressure medications, arthritis medications, muscle relaxers, and certain mental health medications can negatively impact sleep quality.

Source-Medindia