Study: time for a siesta?

Reference

Campbell SS, Stanchina Md, Schlag Jr, Murphy PJ. Effects of a one -month nap program in older people. j bin geriatr soc . 2011; 59: 224-232.

Design

Open observation study with 3 sleeping sessions in the laboratory and in between at home. Comparison of 45-minute (short naps) with 2-hour (long nap) times for night sleep and for wax function over a month. Compliance with such a nap program was also assessed.

participant

22 participants (11 men, 11 women) aged 50 to 83 (mean = 70 years). Although recruitment was also open to people without sleep problems, all subjects reported on age -related sleep disorders in maintaining or duration of sleep. None of the subjects had obvious sleep disorders (e.g. Apnea, Restless legs syndrome, sleep disorder in the circadian rhythm), as this was used as an exclusion criterion. The participants did not take regular afternoon nap at the time of registering.

target parameter

Objective and subjective measures were used to assess the participants, including polysomnography (sleep-EEG), actigraphy, sleeping diaries, neurological behavioral performance and sleeper tests.

most important knowledge

Taken together, both the short and the long-nausea group made more than 5 naps a week, although there were large individual differences. The nap had no influence on the night sleep. In both groups, the average night sleep time on days with naps was 7:57 ± 1:22 hours, compared to 8:06 ± 1:49 hours on days without nap. The sleep quality (i.e. sleeping relief, sleep efficiency, sleep architecture) remained unchanged in both groups. The neurological behavioral performance improved in both groups with 3 out of 4 tasks measured. Finally, there was an increase in the entire 24-hour sleep time in both groups and a resulting decline in daytime fatigue compared to the individual starting values. The compliance was cheaper in the group with short naps than in the group with long nap.

effects on practice

A midday sleep is a custom in many cultures around the world. It was discussed whether such naps influence the nightly sleep rhythm by shortening the duration or quality of night sleep. This study suggests that the duration and quality of the night sleep is not affected by regular naps. This is in accordance with a publication of the same authors from 2005, which shows that the sleeping amount can be improved in a 24-hour period by adding a nap during the day and that these can improve the guard function. ^{1 While naps in America are not a cultural standard, there are numerous studies that show that napkin, especially in older people can improve.}

The authors postulate that the stress -reducing properties of the nap could play a role and that working men may benefit more from this due to stronger stress reduction.

Other studies have shown that afternoon nap can have a greater effect than just improving everyday functional performance. Dr. Androniki Naska examined 23,681 Greek men and women (at the age of 20–86) and found that people who made a nap in the course of the more than six years of follow -up examination had a 34 % lower risk of dying from a heart disease than those who did not make a nap. This difference was in professional men who made a nap, mostly with a 64 % lower risk of dying from a heart disease, compared to a decline of 36 % in non -working men. ^{5 The authors postulate that the stress -reducing properties of the nicker could play a role and that working men due to a stronger stress reduction possibly more could benefit from it.}

While the majority of the studies have led to positive results a day, some have raised the question of whether naps are generally an advantage. In a fairly large study with 8,101 Caucasian women (<69 years old), which was observed over a period of seven years, the likelihood that women who gave information about a nap daily died for any reason, for some reason, and the likelihood of dying from cardiovascular causes to die 58 % higher than in women who did not make a nap. In the same study, the women, the information to sleep within 24 hours of 9-10 hours, had a higher risk of overall mortality than women who slept for 8–9 hours. It is noteworthy that these correlations were not significant if the weekly naps took less than 3 hours overall, which indicates that there is no correlation in very short naps. There was no indication of whether psychological factors such as depression were included in the study.

A community-based study in Guangzhou, China showed a connection between naps a day and the development of type 2 diabetes. The participants, 19,567 Chinese men and women, filled out a questionnaire to the frequency of nap. Diabetes was assessed based on blood sugar levels or reports on a diagnosis or treatment prescribed by the doctor. Those who provide information to make a nap four to six times a week had a 42 % higher risk of developing type 2 diabetes, and those who provide a nap daily had a 52 % higher risk. This connection was also found between naps and an impaired glucose exploitation. Adjustments for disruptive factors such as demography, lifestyle and sleeping habits, health, obesity and metabolic markers did not change the meaning of the connection. 7 whether this data can be transferred to other, more heterogeneous genetic populations remains unknown. However, the clarification of this connection should be pursued, however, since the prevalence of type 2 diabetes in China increases.

Of course, connection and cause are not the same, and although the observation studies that should be carried out possible damage are taken into account, possible underlying factors, such as a genetic predisposition or more nap in people with depression, may not have been taken into account. Nevertheless, it seems that a shorter duration of naps and naps in otherwise healthy people (i.e. without any obvious diagnosis of sleep deprivation) is safe and possibly advantageous for our patients. A warning for people of Chinese descent is careful, and perhaps the maintenance of a "normal" total number of 8 hours over 24-hour cycle can reduce any possible risk for our postmenopausal population.

restrictions

In the study, it is possible that improved neurological behavior in both groups is due to repeated exposure to the tests, since there was only a low correlation with the 24-hour sleeping times. Since this study only lasted one month, it is possible that further improvements or other results will be achieved over a longer period of time. Of course, none of these participants had obvious sleep disorders, so no extrapolation of this data can be carried out for patients with sleep disorders. This study was small - only 22 subjects - therefore a repetition of such a study would be necessary on a larger scale in order to underpin these results.