In the daily picture of life, the tiredness in the afternoon is like a quiet "fog", which often makes people's eyelids become heavy, and they can't wait to find a place to close their eyes and take a good rest. Especially when the pace of the years has passed the seventy, this situation has become more and more frequent, and napping seems to have become an indispensable part of life, like a "nap appointment" that must be visited every day.
Some people find that napping has many benefits and can make people feel refreshed and spend the whole day refreshed. However, as we get older, this seemingly harmless habit may secretly sound the "alarm" of health, especially for heart health, like a "hidden thunder". Have you ever thought that the way or time you take a nap is like a pair of invisible hands, quietly affecting your heart health? For many older friends, excessive napping or improper timing may lead to a series of hidden dangers, and even become the "fuse" of heart problems.
In the hospital, I often meet some elderly patients over the age of 70, who take naps in different situations, some of them do not have the right nap time, and some of them sleep for a long time. Many patients will confide in me that as soon as the nap time comes, the feeling of palpitation and chest tightness will come out, and sometimes when I wake up, even the rhythm of the heartbeat has become "out of order". After careful examination, it is often found that their heart health has problems of varying degrees, and these problems are like tightly wound silk threads, which are closely related to their napping habits.
The most common situation is that the nap time is too long, and many elderly people often fall into a deep sleep around 3 p.m. During this period, some physiological reactions of the body are intertwined with the load of the heart, like a chaotic "traffic jam", which can easily lead to adverse consequences. Some patients are still in serious condition, with symptoms such as premature heart beats and irregular heartbeats, as if the heart's "rhythm machine" is malfunctioning.
Nap and the Heart: The Easily Ignored "Window of Time"
As you may know, taking too long a nap will slow down the body's metabolism like a "gear", and the heart will be affected accordingly. But there is one problem that is often left behind - that is, the time to take a nap. Many people think that taking a nap is just to find a random place to lie down and rest, which will affect their health. But have you ever thought about the specific time of nap, especially from 3 p.m., to be the most dangerous "minefield"?
I once saw an elderly patient who had a regular nap time, starting to fall asleep around 3 p.m. and then sleeping until 5 p.m., as if following a fixed "nap clock". Every time he finished a nap, he would feel like his chest was pressed by a big rock, heavy, and his heart was beating very fast, at first he didn't take it seriously, thinking that it was due to the hot weather or some other small reason.
Until one day, when he woke up, he suddenly felt dizzy, his body shook so badly that he almost fell to the ground, which frightened him and rushed to the hospital for examination. The doctor checked and told him that his heart was beating irregularly, and even irregular heartbeat during some periods, as if the normal "functioning order" of the heart had been disrupted.
In fact, at three o'clock, the body's biological clock is at a low point, and the rest response of the heart and brain is relatively weak. This is even more dangerous for the elderly, after all, as we age, the "resilience" of the heart is like a "spring" that gradually dries up, getting weaker and weaker, and it is simply unable to withstand the additional pressure brought by this period.
This patient is not alone, many elderly people have similar problems, their nap time is always "full of collisions" with the 3 p.m. biological clock fluctuations, and as a result, not only overburdening the heart, but also increasing the risk of cardiovascular problems. In fact, if people over the age of 70 take a nap between 3 and 5 o'clock, the chance of heart discomfort is much higher than that of other time periods, as if this time period casts a "shadow" on heart health.
Ignoring the "deep sleep phase" of napping
Another factor that is easy to be ignored by everyone is that many people think that as long as they close their eyes, they can be considered resting, especially some elderly people, but they don't know that the quality of napping is much more important than how long they sleep. The quality of your sleep depends not only on how long you sleep, but also on what stage of sleep you enter. Many elderly people often go directly into the stage of deep sleep when they take a nap, especially when they feel particularly tired before going to bed, as if they have fallen into the "whirlpool of deep sleep" all of a sudden.
In the stage of deep sleep, the physiological indicators of the body will change, the heartbeat will slow down, and the blood pressure will also drop, which may be a hidden "risk factor" for the heart of the elderly. I once received a 75-year-old patient who quickly fell into a deep sleep as soon as he lay down and closed his eyes during his lunch break, and he couldn't even take care of his digestion after lunch, as if his body had entered a "deep sleep first" mode. The long period of deep sleep has left his heart without enough time to rest, but the function of other systems in the body has also been affected to a certain extent, as if the coordination between the various "parts" in the body has gone wrong.
After the examination, the doctor told him that deep sleep for too long may lead to inhibition of some functions of the heart, and if this goes on for a long time, it is like opening a "small hole" to the "dam" of heart health, which will increase the burden on the heart, especially for the elderly, which is easy to cause heart failure or accelerate the development of heart disease, which is a risk that should not be underestimated. This also made me realize that it is not just as simple as "sleeping long", but more importantly, it is more important to maintain a reasonable sleep structure during napping to avoid excessive deep sleep, which is like putting a "protective lock" on heart health.
The "length of time" of the nap is crucial
Everyone understands that cardiovascular disease and lifestyle are inextricably linked, and many people will remind you to eat less greasy food and exercise moderately, but few people mention that the length of napping is actually an important "weight" that affects cardiovascular health. If the nap time is too long, it may make you fall into the "insomnia circle" at night, and you can't sleep at all, which will affect the quality of rest at night, which is like a vicious circle, further increasing the burden on the cardiovascular system.
Especially for the elderly over 70 years old, if the lunch break is more than two hours at noon, it is like a "big disruption" to the body's biological clock, and it will increase the burden on the heart, as if it "puts a heavy burden" on the heart. I met a 65-year-old patient who usually slept for three hours at a nap, and at first, he didn't notice anything wrong with it, and thought that sleeping more was a better rest.
Until one day, a sharp chest pain hit him like a "storm of surprise", and the pain was so painful that he could barely breathe. After a detailed examination, the doctor found that his heart was already experiencing a significant lack of blood supply, as if there was a problem with the heart's "energy supply". Doctors speculate that his long nap every day not only caused the quality of sleep at night to drop sharply like a "slide", but also caused the heart to lack the necessary recovery time, and in the long run, led to the decline of his heart function. Later, the doctor advised him to shorten the nap time to 1 to 1.5 hours, but not longer, so that the heart can get enough rest without interfering with the quality of sleep at night, just like finding a "comfortable balance" for the heart.
These seemingly ordinary napping habits, in fact, have inadvertently had an impact on heart health, just like "small droplets", which can also form "big waves" when they come together. For seniors over 70 years old, controlling the duration of naps and adjusting the timing of naps may be the key to maintaining heart health, just like holding two "keys" to protect heart health. I hope that everyone can pay more attention to these health details in their daily life, and don't let napping become an "invisible killer" of health.