Not getting enough sleep can lead to mental and physical health problems, increase a person’s risk of injuries and a loss of productivity. One Omnibus study found a whopping 7.5 million Brits are sleep deprived getting in less than five hours of sleep a night.
Dementia , increased heart problems and diabetes are some of the health outcomes associated with not getting enough shut eye. “We need to stop seeing sleep as a luxury and start seeing it as a necessity,” says registered clinical psychologist and founder of The Sleep Practice. When it comes to the biggest sleep struggles amongst Brits, it's the ability to fall asleep and stay asleep with many opting for afternoon naps.
But is this the healthiest choice? A 2023 study by University College London (UCL) looked at data, provided by UK Biobank, and analysed 35,000 people aged between 40 and 69. The aim of the study was to further analyse how habitual napping affects health outcomes. It found that brains of people who napped several times a week were larger than the brains of those who don’t.
It also found that ageing can be delayed for those who enjoy the odd nap here and there, improving it by three to six years. Victoria Garfield, lead author said: "The big finding was that daytime napping is, quite robustly, causally linked to having a larger brain volume.The brain naturally shrinks with age and a smaller brain volume has been linked to a wide range of diseases.
” She added: “People who have a smaller brain vol.