Why is it better to shorten it for your health

You are probably familiar with the term “power nap.” Doctors often recommend a short afternoon nap to keep you alert throughout the day. However, it is better not to do this for a long time. Research shows that sleeping for a long time during the day can have harmful effects. Especially in the elderly.

Studies of the effects of afternoon naps have produced mixed results. Some studies in young people She suggests that a power nap is beneficial for energy levels. Other studies show that Older adults who sleep a lot during the day suffer from various cognitive disorders. So oversleeping can have the opposite effect.

Why is taking long afternoon naps bad for your health?

This regression goes even further. Trouble sleeping and snoozing are well-known symptoms of Alzheimer’s disease. The behavior often becomes more extreme as the disease progresses. Patients are less able to sleep at night, and therefore lack energy during the day. They make up for it by sleeping during the day.

People with Alzheimer’s sleep longer, on average

Researcher Yu Ling and her team at the University of California Research this phenomenon† Researchers studied a group of 1,400 older adults with an average age of 81 years. All participants wore some type of watch that could track their movement. The device interprets afternoon naps as a long daytime period when a person is inactive. At the start of the study, about 75 percent of the participants had no cognitive impairment.

Daily afternoon naps have become longer and more regular over the years. Remarkably, the sleep behavior of people who developed Alzheimer’s disease during the study differed from that of healthy subjects. Healthy seniors sleep an average of 11 extra minutes. In people with mild complaints, this number increased to 25 minutes and Alzheimer’s patients slept up to an additional 68 minutes. This found that adults who nap for at least one hour a day had a 40% greater chance of developing Alzheimer’s disease.

Long afternoon naps linked to brain activity

The study showed that long afternoon naps are normal with age, but to an extent. Other research at the University of California Provides a tentative explanation for this. Alzheimer’s patients have much fewer neurons that control activity in different brain regions. Researchers discovered this after comparing healthy brains with Alzheimer’s brains.

This difference may be related to the course of the disease. An important characteristic of Alzheimer’s disease is the clump of important proteins in the brain. These are proteins that ensure that all neurons do their job properly. This impairs communication between different neurons. Therefore, older people with soap have less active minds, which makes it easier for them to take long afternoon naps.