Taking morning naps could be a warning sign of a deadly health condition, a study has warned.
Among adults in their 80s, researchers found that those who napped before 1pm had a 30 percent higher risk of death from all causes than those who napped in the early afternoon.
Each additional hour of daytime napping was linked to a 13 percent higher risk of death from all causes, while every extra nap was found to raise the risk of death by seven percent.
In the study, researchers at Mass General Brigham tracked 1,300 adults in their 80s who wore a wearable device to track their daytime naps. Almost all took naps.
Over about eight years, 926 participants — or 70 percent — died.
About 20 to 60 percent of adults take naps during the day, which can help to ease fatigue and boost alertness.
But doctors warn that regular daytime napping could be a warning sign for a serious, life-threatening illness.
Frequent daytime naps have been linked to heart disease, which raises the risk of a heart attack and stroke, and neurodegenerative disorders, which gradually rob sufferers of vital bodily functions.
Researchers warn that daytime naps can raise your risk of death from all causes (stock image)
Morning naps are particularly concerning, doctors say, because they suggest the body’s internal clock is not functioning properly, a sign of a major health condition.
The researchers said in their paper that regular napping was a warning sign for potentially fatal health conditions, including heart disease, diabetes, neurodegeneration and obstructive sleep apnea.
They also warned that it may raise the risk of a heart attack or stroke by causing high blood pressure and higher levels of stress and inflammation when someone is awake.
While the study only analyzed data from older individuals, experts warn that frequent napping among younger adults is also a warning sign of an underlying health condition
In the study, published in JAMA Network Open, daytime napping was defined as sleeping between 9am and 7pm.
A morning nap was considered to be sleeping between 9am and 1pm, while an early afternoon nap was up until around 7pm.
Of the 1,338 participants, 1,000 were female and 93 percent were from a white ethnic background. They were overweight, on average, and exercised for about two hours and 30 minutes per week.
Fifteen percent said they needed help with basic activities, while 74 percent were on medication to ease pain or high blood pressure.
In the study, participants wore a wearable to track their daytime naps for at least two weeks, and were then tracked for about eight years.
The paper did not provide information on what the participants died from.
Dr Chelu Gao, an anesthesiologist who led the research, said: ‘Excessive napping is likely indicating underlying disease, chronic conditions, sleep disturbances or circadian dysregulation.
‘Now that we know there is a strong correlation between napping patterns and mortality rates, we can make the case to implement wearable daytime nap assessments to predict health conditions and prevent further decline.’
Circadian dysregulation is when the body’s internal clock, called the circadian rhythm, is not working effectively.
In the paper, the researchers wrote: ‘These findings suggest that excessive and morning napping may signal late-life vulnerability.
‘The findings suggest incorporating wearable device–based daytime nap assessments into clinical and public health practices may provide novel opportunities for early risk identification of health conditions.’
