This week, Bobbi Conner talks with Dr. Megan Brunckhorst about the benefits of taking a power nap. Dr. Brunckhorst is an Assistant Professor of Medicine and a physician in the Department of Pulmonary, Critical Care and Sleep Medicine at MUSC.
TRANSCRIPT:
Conner: I'm Bobbi Conner for South Carolina Public Radio with Health Focus here at the radio studio for the Medical University of South Carolina in Charleston. A brief, well-timed nap for adults can help boost energy and focus. Doctor Megan Brunkhorst is here to talk about napping strategies to get the best results. Doctor Brunkhorst is an Assistant Professor in the College of Medicine, and she's a physician in the Department of Pulmonary, Critical Care and Sleep Medicine at MUSC. Doctor Brunkhorst, tell us more details about the potential benefits of an occasional nap for adults.
Dr. Brunckhorst: We know that naps can improve alertness, mood, and cognitive performance, especially when they're short and timed appropriately. Specific populations of people that we know these naps really help with; people that are sleep deprived getting less than 7 to 9 optimal hours of sleep each night, people performing shift work. So, working those late night hours, people who have jet lag and people who have other medical conditions where naps are typically recommended by their doctor. But we do recommend that you keep these naps short, 10 to 60 minutes, keep them more than seven hours before scheduled bedtime, and less than three times per week.
Conner: Give us your best strategies for beneficial napping for adults.
Dr. Brunckhorst: So, studies show that short naps 10 to 60 minutes taken in the early afternoon, more than seven hours before bedtime. If you go too close to bedtime, it can affect your sleeping at night and then less than three times per week. That's really the ideal sweet spot for these naps.
Conner: Tell us more details about that very important strategy of keeping these really short. Why is that such a big deal?
Dr. Brunckhorst: So we've noticed, studies have shown that people that are sleeping longer than 60 minutes, and again, every person is going to be a little different on this. but people that take these longer naps, 60 plus minutes, they end up waking up with grogginess, which kind of defeats the purpose of these power naps. So, some people ten minutes is the sweet spot, some people 60 minutes is the sweet spot. Somewhere in between there we found people really have this benefit where they feel more energized and they can notice these effects for up to four hours after they nap.
Conner: If someone takes a longer nap and they get their sleep schedule all out of whack, how do we really get back on track?
Dr. Brunckhorst: If you're taking a long nap and then you have very poor sleep that following night, take the next day as a fresh new day. Avoid any naps throughout the day and try to go back to bed at your normal bedtime and wake up at your normal wake time, and then just continue that cycle. You don't want to get into a cycle of trying to make up for lost sleep, because then you'll have consecutive days where you're not having that good, consolidated, restful sleep.
Conner: Are there any other do's and don'ts that you'd like to recommend about napping?
Dr. Brunckhorst: So, I would like to also emphasize that there are people that nap every day, and it has no effect on their daytime grogginess, and it does not affect their sleep at night. And for those people, that's completely fine. We also see in the elderly population that these daily naps are completely normal and expected, especially when above the age of 65, people are sleeping less at night.
Conner: And what additional information can you suggest for people who might have insomnia?
Dr. Brunckhorst: If you're struggling with insomnia, we want you to be as tired as possible right before you go to bed. So, we really discourage napping just because we want you to be able to get to bed at your desired bedtime and have that good, consolidated sleep.
Conner: Doctor Brunkhorst, thanks for these strategies about napping.
Dr. Brunckhorst: You're welcome.
Conner: From the radio studio for the Medical University of South Carolina in Charleston, I'm Bobbi Conner for South Carolina Public Radio.
Health Focus transcripts are intended to accurately represent the original audio version of the program; however, some discrepancies or inaccuracies may exist. The audio format serves as the official record of Health Focus programming.
