Dr's Casebook: A siesta benefits your heart, brain and blood pressure

A study reported that an hour-long nap in the afternoon may boost brain function in older adults. Photo: StockAdobe

Salerno, an Italian port a little south of Naples, can proudly boast of having one of the oldest universities in the world.

Dr Keith Souter writes: Its medical school opened in 1150 AD, and over the centuries it trained many of the leading lights in European medicine.

Carved above its entrance door was the maxim of the medical school: Rest after lunch; after supper walk.

This is an incredibly elegant piece of wisdom, which was undoubtedly based upon empirical observation.

Think about it and you will see that it was advice to have a siesta.

I have been an advocate of the siesta for many years, and practice what I preach by having half an hour rest after lunch.

I find that it refreshes me and allows me to keep working effectively throughout the afternoon.

In the past I have reported on research that suggests it is good for the heart.

In one five-year long study of over 23,000 men, it was found that individuals who took a siesta for 30 minutes or more at least three times per week, had a 40 per cent lower risk of heart attack than those who never took a siesta.

Another study reported that an hour-long nap in the afternoon may boost brain function in older adults.

They did this by having people take mental tests involving mathematical calculation and memory recalls in the afternoon.

Those who slept for an hour outperformed the people who did not have a siesta by sixfold.

Further research from the USA has looked at the effect a short siesta can have on blood pressure.

They found that an hour-long siesta has the same effect of lowering blood pressure as does salt and alcohol restriction.

That is, it seems to be associated with about a 5mm reduction in pressure.

To put that into context a low-dose anti-hypertensive medicine will lower blood pressure by 5 to 7mm.

This is important, because a drop in blood pressure as small as 2mm can reduce the risk of heart attacks by up to ten per cent.

The researchers suggested that in addition to usual blood pressure treatment a short siesta if you can take one could help to bring the blood pressure down even further.

No need to feel guilty about it.