Raise your hand those of you who manage to dedicate time for a healthy afternoon nap. Well, according to a study by Harvard Medical School and the Allegheny Health Network Center for Sleep Medicine, napping is a habit we should all be able to adoptthanks to the undeniable benefits it would bring with it.
These “refreshing naps”, in fact, characterized by an intentional rest between 15 and 30 minutesgenerally in the afternoon, they can temporarily relieve the weight associated with a previous sleep deficit and, according to some studies done previously, they would also have a beneficial impact on our neurological faculties.
It is estimated, unfortunately, that one in three adults does not sleep adequately (which would consist of an average of 7 to 8 hours a night) and that about 20% of Italians suffer from sleep disorders. Teens also need even more sleep than adults, to ensure proper brain development. Not to mention that a lack of sleep can reduce immune function and increase the risk of hypertension, diabetes and other health conditions.
For this reason, for the new study, the researchers looked at people aged between 40 and 69 and their afternoon rest habits, studying the genomes of the participants to find similarities between them, from a sample that came from over 300,000 people who had registered with the UK Biobank, a large UK consortium of genetic and medical data.
What was interesting was finding specific genes consistent in those who napped regularly, suggesting how some sleep habits are even ingrained in DNA.
Study author Prof. Hassan Dashti, a researcher in anesthesiology, critical care and pain medicine at the Massachusetts General Hospital Research Institute and a lecturer at Harvard Medical School, said: “Our approach was unique. We relied on genetics because it is a powerful tool and now we can control different variables”.
Another important fact to take into account is the link between sleep and brain size. Indeed, according to previous studies, Brain volume is a very important index of overall organ health and its propensity to age, since with senescence and the decline in functions it tends to substantially decrease.
Researchers, in their new research have found that those who rested regularly had higher total brain volumes compared to those who napped only occasionally or not at all, estimating a reduction of 3 to 6 years of ageing.
“Naps, like a regular night’s sleep, have a protective effect on overall brain health, but not everyone can do it. Unfortunately for many it remains a privilege and a luxury“added Prof. Dashti.
But we must not forget that a good night’s sleep helps us not only to regain strength and concentration but also manages to give us a hand to keep the high blood pressure and other cardiovascular problems, as well as diabetes as a lack of sleep directly affects the metabolism and insulin levels.
Speaking of sleep, do you know that there is a correlation between little and bad sleep and Alzheimer’s? This explains the importance of restful sleep. For this reason we leave you with 5 tips to sleep better.