Madrid: A study found that 30 minutes of daytime sleep per day may increase the risk of irregular heartbeat.
Atrial fibrillation is a heart condition that causes the heart to beat irregularly and often abnormally fast. The condition affects 40 million people worldwide and has a five-fold increased risk of stroke. are
To find out the relationship between daytime sleepiness and the condition, researchers in Spain looked at data from more than 20,000 people who did not have irregular heartbeats.
Study participants were asked to fill out a questionnaire every two years based on their average daily daytime sleepiness. The questionnaire had three categories for duration (less than 30 minutes, 30 minutes or more than 30 minutes).
Those who slept 30 minutes or more during the day had almost twice the risk of developing atrial fibrillation than those who took shorter daytime naps. However, those who avoided sleep did not have a reduced risk compared to those previously mentioned.
Research has shown that the optimal duration of daytime sleep is between 15 and 30 minutes. People who slept for 30 minutes or more had a 56 percent lower risk of developing an irregular heartbeat than those who slept for 30 minutes or more.
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