Posted on 02/13/2007 5:46:15 AM PST by shrinkermd
Doctors have found a new formula for fighting heart disease: zzzzzzzzzzzz....
In the largest study of siestas and coronary deaths, researchers reported Monday that people who napped at least 30 minutes a day, three times a week, were 37 percent less likely to die from heart disease. Those who napped occasionally saw a 12 percent reduction.
"If you can have a nap without disturbing your working pattern or relationship with your boss, do have it," said senior author Dr. Dimitrios Trichopoulos, an epidemiologist at the Harvard School of Public Health.
Trichopoulos said the risk reduction found in the study was similar to that associated with drugs commonly prescribed to reduce cardiovascular risk, such as statins. Plus, napping has no side effects.
Trichopoulos got the idea for the study because countries where siestas are common tend to have low death rates for coronary heart disease.
(Excerpt) Read more at latimes.com ...
ping
I siesta with the rest of the world. From 4-7pm, I have no bananas for you.
Can I get a bed made under my desk like George Costanza?
I showed this to the boss and I won't repeat what he said. :)
My father used to always take a 10-15 minute cat nap after lunch every day ...he lived to be 96.
I'm sure I saw an article about the benefits of a daily nap -- 20 or 30 years ago! Guess it took them a while to be sure (too many naps?)! ;-)
Workers who nap after lunch are also on average more productive than those who don't. Good luck finding a boss who will go along with it.
I'm sure I saw an article about the benefits of a daily nap -- 20 or 30 years ago! Guess it took them a while to be sure (too many naps?)! ;-)
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I believe I've seen some of the same studies. In Italy, for example, it is customary to work until noon or 1:00 ,take off for three or so hours and then come back to work later. Usually, the Italians have their big meal of the day during that period, then they take a nap. The story goes that this break in the day, plus the moderate consumption of wine, kept Italians healthy.
I always hate advocating what other countries do, but most countries (Europe & Latin America) require 1 1/2 hour lunch breaks. This allows many employees to go home, eat and rest. Unfortunately, here in the US, due to urban sprawl, it would be difficult to make it home and come back to work in a reasonable time.
I do that, too. I eat lunch quickly, then go out to my car and sleep for twenty minutes or so. It's kind of difficult in cold weather, though. For a long time my place of business had an empty suite of offices where I could retire in privacy to have a nap under clean pleasant conditions without anybody knowing, but they are now in use and it's back to the car. There is NO way to nap in my office.
Technically my boss would have no trouble with something I was doing on my lunch hour, but napping creates the image of laziness. American business admires the person who is a perpetual motion machine, always energetic, always enthusiastic, always powerful. Naps don't fit with that image and the person who takes them seems old, lazy, inattentive, a loser. So I try to keep it a secret. Maybe articles like this will change the corporate image of napping.
I've been taking a noon nap for the past 30 years. I just stretch out on the floor of my office. Of course, I'm the boss so I can get away with it! :)
I wish, but I doubt it. I've seen some studies that Americans work more days per year than any other industrialized country, Japan included. I suppose that's good for maximum productivity, but maybe not.
When I was working in SE Asia, it was customary to take 11:30 to 2:00 for lunch, which for most included the drive home, lunch, a nap, a shower, and the drive back to work. They were at their desks at 7:00am, so it worked out to a normal 8+ hour workday.
I like the idea of napping in the car.
"Marketing is everything". Call'em "power naps" instead of "cat naps", and you're golden.
I worked with a lab tech who ate lunch at his desk, then donned a "sleep mask" (picture the Lone Ranger's mask without the eye holes), and lean back an snooze for 15 minutes. This was at a MAJOR chemical company R&D lab---the bosses never complained.
Anyone ever notice that at the start of his show Bill O'Reilly often looks like he's just woken up from a nap? My wife's noticed it too.
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Well, if he does nap, more "power" to him :)
It must do him good if he does nap. Yesterday, he was in rare form, particularly the beginning segment on the Edwards bloggers.
As in, the LSM treatment of Reagan?
I'm going to live to 100!
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