Greensboro's African American Community Newspaper since 1967
We keep harping on making sure that one is getting adequate sleep. Many physicians believe sleep is the number one determinate of longevity. Why so? We know that sleep is when your body heals itself. We know how important it is that one gets down into those restorative stages of sleep. We also know how important it is that we get enough sleep. And we do things to stay asleep longer so we can achieve seven to nine hours of sleep each night, such as stopping the consumption of fluids a few hours before bedtime. We worry if one is getting up at night to urinate, if there is a cardiac problem since it is easier to mobilize fluids when one is lying down. We also work on the bladder when it is the problem of one not being able to sleep all night.
We know that those who work night shifts have more health problems and live shorter lives than those who work during day shifts.
We worry about people who snore. Do they or does anyone else stop breathing when they sleep? We know those individuals have more cognitive and heart problems since those organs are deprived of oxygen when they stop breathing.
We know that a night of poor sleep can disturb your flow of energy, cognition and life the next day. Yes it is true that you cannot make up for that lost sleep. So, we hope you guard your sleep time as precious because those who say they can sleep when they die unfortunately die sooner.
To that end, is it okay to nap during the day? You did not sleep well at night and is that nap okay to take? There are cultures that take a traditional siesta in the early afternoon when one’s energy may be slow and bodily changes encourage sleep. Is that okay?
It is common that as people get older, they may nap more. These people may also have more problems with their sleep at night and then try to catch up on sleep with daily naps. The question remains; is that a good thing?
In some recent studies, older individuals were outfitted with smart watches that sensed when a person was in motion. Many older study participants took naps during the day. Researchers noted whether the naps took place in the morning, the early afternoon, or late afternoon. They also looked at smart watch data which recorded the number of naps taken per day, the length of the naps and the overall variability of their naps.
Their findings showed that for every hour of napping throughout the day, there was a 13 percent increase in mortality. The researchers also noted that the more naps taken during the day also resulted in an increase in mortality rate of seven percent.
In addition, the timing of the naps seemed to have the biggest impact. It was determined that people who took early morning naps were associated with a 30 percent increase in mortality than people who took afternoon naps.
Could early morning naps be a sign of an underlying health issue? Most likely yes. We should look further into those early morning naps as a possible compensatory event that signals there may be an underlying problem that needs immediate attention.
Value your sleep and protect it.
Dr. Veita Bland is a board-certified Greensboro physician and hypertension specialist. Dr. Bland’s radio show, “It’s a Matter of Your Health,” can be heard live on Wednesdays, 5:30 p.m. on N.C. A&T State University’s WNAA, 90.1 FM. Listeners may call in and ask questions. The show is replayed on Sirius 142 at 5 p.m. on Wed. Email Dr. Bland at ideas@blandclinicpa.com.
