Gracy

Although naps confer proven health benefits, napping regularly is associated with a higher risk of developing high blood pressure and stroke, according to a study published in Hypertension (PDF), and American Heart Association (AHA) journal.

For the study, researchers looked at data from more than 500,000 adults ages 40 to 60 from the U.K. Biobank, a large biomedical database and research resource of anonymized genetic, lifestyle, and health information. Study participants regularly provided blood, urine, and saliva samples, and detailed information about their lifestyle, including how often they partook in daytime napping. The study took place from 2006 to 2019.

Participants were divided into groups based on self-reported napping frequency: never/rarely, sometimes, or usually.

Compared with people who never napped, usual daytime napping was associated with a 12 percent higher risk of developing high blood pressure and a 24 percent higher risk of having a stroke compared with those who never napped.

“These results are especially interesting since millions of people might enjoy a regular, or even daily nap,” E Wang, PhD, MD, a professor and chair of the department of anesthesiology at Xiangya Hospital Central South University in Changsha, China, and the study’s corresponding author, said in a press release.

The results also showed that if napping frequency increased, say a person moved from the "never/rarely" category to the "sometimes" category, the risk of high blood pressure increased by 40 percent.