Half an hour's sleep is good for your health

A nap a day reduces the health consequences of sleep deprivation at night

02/12/2015

Working until late at night, dancing until dawn in the disco or stress-related sleep problems - the causes of sleep deprivation are manifold. Unfortunately, the consequences of too short a night the next day are clearly noticeable. In addition, lack of sleep has a negative impact on health. French researchers have found that even a 30-minute nap per day reduces fatigue, concentration problems and energy lessening.

A 30-minute nap is good for your health
After a short night you feel drained and battered. The work is slow, because it's hard to concentrate. French scientists led by sleep researcher Brice Faraut of Paris Descartes University may have found a solution to the problem. „Our data suggest that a 30-minute sleep can reverse the hormonal consequences of a night of bad sleep, "quotes „sciencedaily.com“ the expert who examined the health consequences of sleep deprivation in a study. „This is the first study to show that napping can bring neuroendocrine and immunological biomarkers back to normal levels.“

Persistent insomnia severely affects health. This puts the body under stress and weakens the immune system. Illnesses such as hypertension, diabetes, depression and obesity are therefore increasingly developing into chronic sleep deprivation.

Researchers investigated the influence of a short nap in sleep deprivation on the hormone balance and immune system
The French researchers wanted to know whether the health consequences of sleep deprivation can be alleviated by taking a nap during the day. For this, they initially ordered eleven healthy men aged 25 and 32 into a sleep laboratory and let them sleep only two hours at night. Meanwhile, the subjects were monitored. They also had to submit blood and saliva samples. During the next day, the study participants had to stay awake. In another session, the men were again only allowed to sleep for two hours. The next day, however, they should have two naps, each lasting 30 minutes. The two nights before and after the short night were the same for all subjects. On the first night they were allowed to sleep for eight hours and in the third, as long as they liked.

Shift workers, in particular, could benefit from short naps a day
The evaluation of the blood and saliva samples showed that the concentration of the stress hormone norepinephrine was increased by two and a half times as much due to lack of sleep. Norepinephrine boosts blood pressure and blood sugar and makes the heart beat faster. In addition, an increase in a protein (interleukin-6), which regulates inflammatory reactions was found. Through the sleep during the day, the values ​​returned to normal.

„Taking a quick nap might provide a way to alleviate the harmful effects of sleep deprivation by helping the immune system and neuroendocrine systems recover, "Faraut said „sciencedaily.com“.„The results could contribute to the development of practicable strategies for chronically overtired people, such as night shift workers and shift workers. "(Ag)