Could Your Afternoon Nap Kill You?

Short answer: No. But it could be a sign of something wrong.

A study conducted by the University of Cambridge followed more than 16,000 people in England for 13 years to track sleep habits. So, no small sample size here. What did they find?

In the study, people ages 40 to 79 who napped daily, for less than an hour, were 14 percent more likely to die over a 13-year period, compared to those who did not nap. Longer naps were linked with a higher risk: people whose daily naps lasted an hour or more were 32 percent more likely to die over the study period.

Well, that's not great. I get up at 3 a.m. and take care of a one-year-old child. I live for napping. On the plus side, I'm also not old enough yet to fit into the age groups covered in the study. So why do naps correlate with early death?

The reason for the link is not known. It may not be napping per se that's unhealthy, but rather, that those who tend to nap also have undiagnosed medical conditions that affect their risk of dying, the researchers said.

Experts call for further studies before any hard-and-fast recommendations are made. This report also did not examine if shorter "power naps" of 30 minutes or less might be beneficial.

On a related note, another survey says 15 percent of us have dozed off on the job at least once a week. And virtually no one thinks they're getting a good night's sleep at home. Why:

According to the study, 85.2 percent say the room or bed temperature was either too high or too low, while 71.9 percent attributed sleeping issues to their partners. Then there were 68.6 percent who said unwanted noise was an issue, and 52.8 percent who said the same about light. The report also found that 40 percent of respondents blamed their mattresses, while 35.9 percent cited disruptions from children. Just 10.2 percent say a medical condition interrupted their sleep.

No word on where "can't sleep bcause I'm afraid my naps will kill me" fell on the list.