Abstract
AbstractNapping Behaviors and Inflammatory Burden in Midlife: A 10-year Longitudinal Proposal
A thesis presented to the Faculty of Brandeis UniversityWaltham, Massachusetts
By Tianyu Zhao
Sleep is fundamental for good physical and mental health. Poor sleep quantity and quality are related to many physical conditions like chronic inflammation and chronic diseases. However, sleep involves more than just nighttime sleep. Napping frequency and duration during the day are another form of sleep that has not received as much attention as nighttime sleep. Emerging evidence from a number of studies suggests that longer nap durations are positively associated with risk of mortality, and cardiometabolic diseases. However, little is known about whether nap duration or frequency predict inflammatory burden, especially among relatively healthy adults in midlife. Naps have been found to be more common among older adults and who may already have health problems. Therefore, more work is needed to explore the role of naps for health in midlife adults especially those who are disease free. Of interest is whether the frequency and/or length of naps among healthy midlife adults can predict inflammation and chronic diseases after 10 years. A 10-year longitudinal design is proposed with participants who are 30 and 40 years old at baseline to examine how napping behavior (frequency and duration) relates to the inflammatory markers (IL-6, CRP) concurrently and after 10 years. Only adults who do not have these three chronic diseases at baseline, diabetes, heart disease, or cancer, will be included. The study will examine the long-term effects of napping on inflammation and emergence of these chronic diseases after 10 years. The study will control for demographic, health-related and sleep-related covariates including alcohol-use, BMI, nighttime sleep quantity and quality. It is expected that more frequent and longer nap duration (above 30 minutes) at baseline will be associated with higher concurrent levels of inflammation and higher inflammation and more chronic diseases at the 10-year follow up. In contrast, those with shorter nap duration (30 minutes or below), less frequent naps or no naps are expected to show lower level of inflammation and reduced chronic health risk over time. The findings of this research can provide more information about the role of daytime napping for health across adulthood.