Men who take siestas can lower their risk of death from coronary heart disease by as much as 64 per cent, even when other factors such as diet, age and exercise are taken into account. The findings, from American and Greek scientists, suggest that dozing off after lunch could play an important role in fighting stress, with benefits for cardiovascular health.

The study of Greek adults showed that the effects were strongest among working men. It remains unknown whether working women get similar benefits from siestas because only six of those involved in the research died during the study period.

Researchers have long noted that death rates from heart disease appear to be lower in countries where taking a siesta is common practice — typically the Mediterranean region of Europe and parts of South and Central America.

It was not known, however, whether this reflected a health benefit from the naps themselves, or because people in these regions tend to follow a Mediterranean diet.

In the new research, a team from the Harvard School of Public Health and the University of Athens studied 23,681 Greek men and women aged between 20 and 86, who did not have a history of heart disease or serious medical condition when they enrolled.

Their siesta habits, diet and exercise were then monitored between 1994 and 1999, and the subjects’ long-term health was followed up for an average of six years and four months. During this period 792 participants died, of whom 133 died of heart disease. Once the influence of diet and exercise was taken into account, there was still a big benefit to napping.

Among working men, the risk of dying of heart disease was 64 per cent lower in those who took regular or even occasional naps. Retired and non-working men had a smaller but still significant benefit: they had a 36 per cent reduced risk.

“We interpret our findings as indicating that among healthy adults, siesta, possibly on account of stress-releasing consequences, may reduce coronary mortality,” said Androniki Naska, who led the study.

“The fact that the association was stronger in working men, who likely face job-related stress, than non-working men is compatible with this hypothesis,” the report said. “This is an important finding because the siesta habit is common in many parts of the world, including the Mediterranean region and Central America.”

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