A new study suggests that regular napping can increase the chance of an early death by about a third.
People who sleep for an hour or more during the day could be increasing their risks of developing lung diseases such as emphysema, bronchitis and pneumonia, according to The Independent.
The study was published in the American Journal of Epidemiology, and adds that the need to take a nap could possibly be a sign that a person already has some kind of lung disease.
Researchers at Cambridge University kept track of 16,374 volunteers in Britain. The participants were followed for 13 years, after which the researchers found that those who napped for less than an hour each day had a 14 percent increase in their risk of dying, while those who napped for more than one hour had a 32 percent increase in risk, CBS New York reported.
Despite the findings, experts say that the risks are not as harmful as they seem, and that the reason for why people take naps should be the main focus.
"There's a reason they need to nap, perhaps, which includes many of the major sleep diseases," said Dr. Steven Feinsilver, director of the Sleep Center at Mount Sinai Medical Center. "The main reason to be sleepy is sleep apnea, and we know that sleep apnea is associated with an increased risk of cardiac disease, stroke, and death."
Jim Horne, professor from the Sleep Research Center at Loughborough University, said that napping does not pose a risk in the health of most people, The Independent reported.
"The findings actually show that the great majority- about 85 percent- of those people who napped less than an hour were at no greater risk," Horne said.
Horne also said that the participants who had serious and incurable lung diseases could have possibly benefited from their naps.
"[Napping] may not have hastened death but delayed it," he said.
Sleep experts also said naps could be good for night shift workers, who often have trouble sleeping seven to eight hours straight, CBS New York reported. Experts said getting some sleep with a daytime nap can be just as good for people as sleeping seven to eight hours at night.
