Napping Could Better Your Health

In case your busy schedule doesn't make you tense enough, consider that such stress may also raise your blood pressure and put you at risk for heart disease.  The easy antidote: a nap, according to an article in the July 2011 issue of Good Housekeeping.  In an Allegheny College study of 85 young, tired adults, researchers allowed half the subjects to doze for up to an hour, then gave all the volunteers a mentally stressful test (tricky math problems), monitoring their blood pressure and heart rate while they did the rapid computations and after they were done.  All the subjects experienced a bump-up in blood pressure and pulse, but those who had snoozed for at least 45 minutes had significantly less dramatic rises during the test and a quicker return to lower numbers.  And if a nap is out of the question in that busy day of your? "Try to get at least a little extra sleep at night," suggest lead researcher Sarah Conklin, Ph.D. "By protecting your heart from the effects of stress, there could be a big health payoff."