People who nap frequently have a greater chance of developing high blood pressure and having a stroke, a large new study has suggested.
Researchers in China studied information from UK Biobank, a biomedical database containing genetic, lifestyle, and health information from half a million people between the ages of 40 and 69 who lived in the UK.
The study published in Hypertension, a journal of the American Heart Association, has found that those who nap often can have a 12 per cent higher chance of high blood pressure and a 24 per cent higher chance of having a stroke than people who never or rarely nap.
A higher percentage of participants who said they usually took naps were men with lower education and income levels compared with people who never or sometimes took naps, according to the findings.
The group that usually took naps also smoked cigarettes, drank alcohol daily, and snored.
People who had had a stroke or high blood pressure were excluded from the study, leaving about 360,00 participants. They provided blood, urine, and saliva samples as well as information about their lifestyles.
Getting enough sleep is an essential for optimal cardiovascular health. According to The American Heart Association, sleep as well as nicotine exposure, physical activity, diet, weight, blood glucose, cholesterol and blood pressure are all lifestyle factors that can impact cardiovascular health.
