A power nap is your best midday recharger

by Michael Tennesen

In an Australian study, 12 university students had either no nap, a 5-minute nap, a 10-minute nap, or a 30-minute nap following a short night’s sleep.

Participants whose naps were shorter than 10 minutes didn’t get any benefit, while those who slept longer woke up feeling groggy. The 10-minute nap provided immediate improvement in alertness, mood, and performance, because it wasn’t long enough to enter deeper sleep, which produces sleep inertia, explain the researchers.

Michael Tennesen is a regular contributor to Prevention magazine.

Danger in the blood

by Michael Tennesen

Lost sleep not only takes the zip out of your day, it also boosts levels of dangerous, inflammation-promoting hormones linked to heart attack and stroke. In a study at Pennsylvania State University and the National Institutes of Health (NIH), 13 intentionally sleep-deprived volunteers (they got 2 hours a night for several nights) showed an increase in cytokines, the chemical messengers that help direct the inflammatory process. When inflammation runs amok, it contributes to heart disease, stroke, and high blood pressure. (Presented at the Endocrine Society annual meeting, June 2002)

Cytokines can also increase insulin resistance, which leads to diabetes, says researcher George Chrousos, MD, chief of the Pediatric and Reproductive Endocrinology Branch of the NIH.

http://www.healthyideas.com/cda/feature2002/0,4780,4515,00.html