There are several types of naps that increase the risk of mortality in seniors. You have to be very careful!
The nap is not just a simple moment of rest. It could, in adults of average age to advance, reflect a more fragile state of health than it seems. This is what a Recent study presented during the SLEEP 2025 congress.
Bad health habits
This study highlights links between certain nap habits and a significant risk of mortality. The results are not yet published in a scientific journal. On the other hand, the first analyzes are already questioning.
The researchers decided to look into the behavior of 86,565 people, aged on average 63 years. None of the participants worked at night. This made it possible to focus on diurnal sleep rhythms without interference.
An activation, a device similar to a watch, made it possible to precisely measure the sleep and awakening phases over a full week. The data was then crossed with the evolution of their state of health over a period of up to 11 years.
Dr Chenlu Gao, specialist in circadian rhythms at Harvard University and the study author, revealed: “This is an observational study. What we have found are therefore associations and not direct causes ”.
Before adding too: “Clearly: it cannot be concluded that it is the nap which has a direct influence on health or mortality. Likewise, one cannot say that changing your way of taking your nap could Improve your health or risk of mortality« .
Different types of naps
The expert said: “We need more studies to better understand the subject”. Despite this caution, three types of naps appear systematically in risk profiles. First, the long nap, which has a duration of 24 minutes per day.
Then there is the nap with great variability in the schedules, without regular rhythm. Finally, those made between the end of the morning and the beginning of the afternoon. That is to say between 11 a.m. and 3 p.m. The latter associate themselves with an increase in the risk of death.
Most of the naps observed in the study were divided between morning and early evening. A third of the participants were softening between 9 a.m. and 11 a.m. Others preferred lunch time between 11 a.m. and 1 p.m.
While 14 % opted for the early afternoon, between 1 p.m. and 3 p.m. At the end of the day, between 3 p.m. and 7 p.m., a significant part of the participants continued to take a nap. It showed A need for rest that could be symptomatic.
If the nap itself does not harm health, it constitutes a good alert signal. Excessive or disorganized day sleep can reveal night sleep disorders or underlying diseases.
Several disorders to monitor
These disorders include chronic heart failure, respiratory diseases such as COPD, sleep apnea or even neurological affections such as restless legs syndrome.
In the case of heart failure, the heart is struggling to effectively pump blood. The night then becomes difficult to manage. The person feels frequent awakenings, breathlessness and goes back and forth to the toilet.
COPD, on the other hand, obstructs the respiratory tract and decreases the oxygenation of the blood. It causes disturbed sleep, with micro-acknowledgments. The same phenomenon is observed in sleep apnea.
Ce phenomenon interrupts repeated breathing during the night. It causes tenacious fatigue when you wake up. Restless legs syndrome, too, prevents restorative sleep, with uncontrolled movements. This concern leads to falling asleep or the fragmentation of the night.
