Napping longer as you age linked to a higher chance of death so is snoozing between these hours

The benefits of napping are well-established: the afternoon delight of a siesta may preserve the health of our brains as we age, and napping has been shown to boost creativity, improve parenting, and increase joy.Experts have even coined a word to describe the bliss state reached after a brief doze: nappiness.But your mid-day resting habits can also predict how soon you’ll lie down to “rest your eyes” — and not get back up.Previous research has focused on the link between nighttime sleep and mortality — but it has overlooked napping, which is a crucial part of the sleep-wake cycle and carries its own health implications, according to Chenlu Gao, PhD.But this new study from Division of Sleep Medicine, Harvard Medical School and Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston, researchers analyzed data from more than 86,000 adults — and found that napping habits are also linked to mortality.“Our findings suggest that certain patterns of napping could serve as early indicators of declining health,” Gao, the lead investigator of the study, told Medscape Medical News.Napping for longer and on a more irregular schedule were both associated with a higher risk of mortality.“Longer or more irregular naps may reflect poor nighttime sleep, circadian rhythm disruption, or underlying health conditions such as cardiovascular disease, metabolic disorders, depression, or early neurodegenerative changes,” he explained.Long nappers tend to have a higher body mass index, a larger waist, higher blood pressure, and an increased prevalence of metabolic syndromes, according to a 2023 study published in the Obesity Society’s research journal  — traits that have been linked to obesity, diabetes and heart disease.They’re also tied to later bed and meal times, greater food consumption at lunch, and cigarette smoking.Those who slept less than 30 minutes (a power nap) did not appear to have an increased risk for obesity or these other metabolic concerns.Other risk...