Hour of daytime sleep can lower blood pressure
By IANSTuesday, March 1, 2011
WASHINGTON - Even an hour of sleep in daytime could help lower blood pressure after mental stress, researchers say.
A study conducted by Ryan Brindle and Sarah Conklin from the Allegheny College in the US, found that participants who slept 45 minutes in daytime had lower average blood pressure after stress than those who did not sleep.
Long work schedules, shift work, increased anxiety and a greater use of the internet and TV late at night impacts nocturnal sleep, the International Journal of Behavioural Medicine reports.
For example, sleeping less has been linked to a higher risk of hypertension and cardiovascular problems, according to an Allegheny statement.
Brindle and Conklin split 85 healthy university students into two groups - one group was allotted a 60-minute interval during the day when they had the opportunity to sleep, while the other group was not.
They measured the students’ blood pressure and pulse rates throughout the experiment. They found that daytime sleep seemed to have a restorative effect on students.
