Daytime napping lowers risk of heart attack

Taking a nap during daytime can not only refresh you but also lower the risk of heart attack or stroke if taken once or twice in a week, found a new study.

The impact of napping on heart health has been hotly contested since many of the  published studies on the topic have failed to consider napping frequency, or focused purely on cardiovasccular disease deaths, or compared regular nappers with those not opting for a mini siesta.

In the study, researchers looked at the association between napping frequency and average nap duration and the risk of fatal and non-fatal cardiovascular disease events, such as heart attack, stroke or heart failure, among 3462 randomly selected residents of Switzerland.

Each participant was aged between 35 and 75 when recruited between 2003 and 2006 to the study.

The 1st check-up took place between 2009 and 2012 when information on their sleep and nap patterns in the previous week was collected and their health was then subsequently monitored for an average of 5 years.

Over half ( 58% 2014) of the participants said they didn't nap during the previous week; around one in five ( 19%, 667) said they took 1-2 naps; around one in ten ( 12%, 411) said they took 3-5; while a similar proportion ( 11 %, 379) said they took 6-7.

Frequent nappers ( 3-7 naps a week) tended to be older, male, smokers, weigh more and to sleep for longer at night than those who said they didn't nap during the day.

And they reported more daytime sleepiness and more severe obstructive sleep apnoea-a condition in which the walls of the throat relax and narrow during sleep, interrupting normal breathing.

During the monitoring period, there were 155 fatal and non-fatal cardiovascular events.

Occasional napping once to twice weekly, was associated with an almost halving in attack/ stroke / heart failure risk ( 48% ) compared with those who didn't nap at all.

This association held true after taking account of potentially influential factors, such as age, and nighttime sleep duration, as well as other cardiovascular disease risks, such as high blood pressure/ cholesterol.

And it didn't change after factoring in excessive daytime sleepiness, depression and regularly sleeping for at least 6 hours a night. Only older age ( 65+) and severe sleep apnoea affected it.

But the 67 % heightened cardiovascular risk initially observed for frequent papers virtually 
disappeared after taking account of potentially influential factors. And no associations with cardiovascular disease 'events' were found for nap length ( from 5 minutes to 1 hour +).

this is only for your information, kindly take the advice of your doctor for medicines, exercises and so on.   
https://gscrochetdesigns.blogspot.com. one can see my crochet creations 
https://gseasyrecipes.blogspot.com. feel free to view for easy, simple and healthy recipes    
https://kneereplacement-stickclub.blogspot.com. for info on knee replacement        

Sleep-disordered breathing linked to age acceleration

Increase in the severity of sleep-disordered breathing and sleep disruption are associated with epigenetic age acceleration, recent findings suggest.

The study shows that each standard deviation increase in the apnea-hypopnea index, a measure of sleep-disordered breathing severity, was associated with the equivalent of 215 days of biological age acceleration. Similarly, each standard deviation increase in the arousal index, a measure of sleep disruption, was associated with the equivalent of 321 days of age acceleration.

“People’s biological age might not be the same as their chronological age. Individuals, whose biological age is higher than their chronological age, exhibit age acceleration or fast ageing. In our study, we found that more severe sleep-disordered breathing is associated with epigenetic age acceleration. Our data provide biological evidence supporting adverse physiological and health effects of untreated sleep-disordered breathing,” said the lead author. 

Sleep-disordered breathing, such as obstructive sleep apnea, is characterized by abnormalities of respiration during sleep. Episodes often result in reductions in blood oxygen saturation and are usually terminated by brief arousals from sleep. Nearly 30 million adults in the US have obstructive sleep apnea. Common warning signs include snoring and excessive daytime sleepiness.

According to the authors, epigenetic age acceleration is a DNA methylation-based marker of fast biological ageing, and it is associated with modifiable lifestyle factors. Although sleep-disordered breathing is associated with multiple age-related health disorders, its relationship with epigenetic ageing has not been well studied.

Another surprising finding was that the associations were stronger in women than in men, suggesting that women may be particularly vulnerable to the adverse effects of sleep-disordered breathing.

“While women are often considered to be at lower risk for health outcomes related to sleep-disordered breathing, our findings suggest increased biological susceptibility,” said the author.  

THIS IS ONLY FOR INFORMATION, ALWAYS CONSULT YOU PHYSICIAN BEFORE HAVING ANY PARTICULAR FOOD/ MEDICATION/EXERCISE/OTHER REMEDIES.                                PS- THOSE INTERESTED IN RECIPES ARE FREE TO  VIEW MY BLOG-                                                                                           https://gseasyrecipes.blogspot.com/                                                                                                                                                FOR INFO ABOUT KNEE REPLACEMENT, YOU CAN VIEW MY BLOG-                                                  https:// kneereplacement-stickclub.blogspot.com/  

                            FOR CROCHET DESIGNS                                                                                                                                                                                    https://gscrochetdesigns.blogspot.com

Sleeping too much is bad for you

Turns out, sleeping more than six to eight hours a night is associated with an  increased risk of death and cardiovascular diseases.

According to a recent study, people sleeping more than the recommended upper limit of eight hours increased their risk of major cardiovascular events, like stroke or heart failure, as well as death by up to 41 per cent.

But a possible reason for this could be that people have underlying conditions causing them to sleep longer, which in turn could raise the risk of cardiovascular disease or death, explained the authors of the study.

The team also identified a rising risk among daytime nappers.
“Daytime napping was associated with increased risks of major cardiovascular events and deaths in those with [more than] six hours of nighttime sleep but not in those sleeping [less than] 6 hours a night,” said a researcher.

People who under sleep a daytime nap compensate for the lack of sleep at night and mitigate the risks.

The researchers also reported that having less sleep, under six hours, can increase the risks by nine per cent, compared to people who slept for the recommended six to eight hours.

THIS IS ONLY FOR INFORMATION, ALWAYS CONSULT YOU PHYSICIAN BEFORE HAVING ANY PARTICULAR FOOD/ MEDICATION/EXERCISE/OTHER REMEDIES.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                        PS- THOSE INTERESTED IN RECIPES ARE FREE TO  VIEW MY BLOG-                                                                                           https://gseasyrecipes.blogspot.com/                                                                                                                                                                             FOR INFO ABOUT KNEE REPLACEMENT, YOU CAN VIEW MY BLOG-                                                                                                                             https:// kneereplacement-stickclub.blogspot.com/                                                                                       FOR CROCHET DESIGNS                                                                                                                                                                                                                                 https://gscrochetdesigns.blogspot.com