February 14, 2007 -- Protect Your Heart on Valentine’s Day—Take A Nap

I’ve always thought that the sign of a civilized office is a couch or at least a recliner on which to take a good midday schnooze.  Now comes research that finds that a nice siesta could help you lengthen your life’s fiesta.  The study, published in the February 12th Archives of Internal Medicine, found that naps reduced the risk of coronary mortality by a third, nice heart news this Valentine’s Day. 

The researchers followed almost 24,000 people in Greece for over six years.  All the subjects were free of any history of cardiovascular disease at the start of the study.  Turned out that people who took at least three midday naps a week of at least half an hour each had a 37 percent lower risk of a coronary-related death than did non-nappers.  Even more impressive, the protective effect was particularly strong among working men.  Retirees got less of a benefit from the nap, even though they no doubt still enjoyed them.  According to the study’s authors, an afternoon nap for a healthy individual might be a real lifesaving stressbuster.  I knew lying down on the job was a good idea.