If you have been diagnosed with high blood pressure, you know that you often have to make some lifestyle changes to get it back down to safer levels. For example, your Hudson County cardiologist may have suggested that you need to cut down on salt, fatty foods, and alcohol, stop smoking, and get more exercise. These lifestyle changes do help to bring blood pressure down, but let's face it – not everyone welcomes having to make them.
Well, here's a lifestyle change that might be easier to bear – take a midday nap.
Recent research published in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology suggests that people with high blood pressure who took a midday nap were more likely to see a drop in their blood pressure compared with those who don't nap.
Even more interesting, the researchers found that midday napping achieved the same levels of blood pressure reduction as those caused by lifestyle changes and some antihypertension medications.
Details of the study
Conducted in Greece, which has a culture that considers midday napping normal, the study participants – all with high blood pressure – were divided into two groups. Some took daily naps, others didn't. Those who took short naps showed an average 5 mm Hg drop in blood pressure compared to those who didn't. For those who napped longer, each 60 minutes of midday sleep resulted in an additional blood pressure drop of 3 mm Hg.
These figures are on par with blood pressure reductions commonly caused by salt and alcohol reduction. They are also on par with the effects of low-dose antihypertension medications.
The findings are made more significant because study participants wore mobile monitors that allowed the researchers to measure their blood pressure at regular intervals of the day and night. This enabled them to note that the reductions didn't happen only immediately after the naps, but continued all day. And at night, when blood pressure drops naturally during sleep, there were similar dipping blood pressure rates. So the reductions caused by napping were present not only all day, but at night as well.
So should you start taking a midday nap immediately?
Well, it couldn't hurt. There have been many studies documenting the health benefits of midday napping.
On the other hand, please note that this was a preliminary study, literally the first one that evaluated the effects of midday napping on blood pressure. As heart specialists in Hudson County, we agree with the study authors that further research is needed to validate the findings.
But if the study IS validated, the recommendation to take a midday nap may become a valuable new tool in the arsenal of the best cardiologists near you. Nearly half of American adults have high blood pressure. High blood pressure increases the risk of both heart attack and stroke, so if midday napping reduces high blood pressure, that's a Good Thing.
If you have questions about your own blood pressure and how to keep it at healthy levels, feel free to give us a call at (201) 241-4222 or go online to schedule an appointment at Cross County Cardiology. The best heart doctors in Hudson County are always available to answer your questions.
