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‘Nappuccino’ can recharge, help prevent afternoon slump

By Neal Augenstein

Feeling tired in the early-to-mid afternoon can be attributed to a dip in our circadian rhythm — a “nappuccino” can help get you through it.

“The ‘nappuccino’ is drinking a cup of coffee, right before you take a 20-minute nap,” said Keisha Sullivan, a sleep medicine physician at Kaiser Permanente, in Largo, Maryland. “The idea is, when you wake up, you feel more refreshed when that caffeine kicks in.”

If a 20-minute nap is helpful, wouldn’t a two-hour nap be better? Not in this case, said Sullivan.

“Taking a 20- or 30-minute nap, you won’t go into REM, or dream sleep,” said Sullivan. “When you wake up out of REM sleep, that can make you more groggy.”

In addition, taking too long a nap can affect your nighttime sleeping.

“So, we recommend (napping) for a short period of time to prevent any issues, when you get ready to go to bed,” said Sullivan.

The combination of caffeine and a nap can make a drooping person more alert, improve cognitive function, and feel more refreshed.

And if she were writing a prescription to mentally and physically recharge?

“After lunch, when you feel that midday slump coming on, I would take the ‘nappuccino’ at that time,” said Sullivan.

States seek to lower drug prices by targeting the companies that manage them for health plans

By The Associated Press
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — As consumers worry about medication costs, states are trying to lower drug prices by reining in big companies that oversee prescription coverage for health insurers. Some of those companies, called pharmacy benefit managers, also own pharmacies, and one of them, CVS, has spent millions of dollars fighting the regulations. Affordability is a key issue ahead of this year’s midterm elections. Legislators in at least a dozen states passed laws this year to limit compensation to the companies, set minimum payments from the companies to pharmacists and require the companies to disclose more information to their clients, states and the public. A Tennessee law will bar pharmacy benefit managers from operating retail pharmacies as of July 1, 2028, though CVS Health Corp. has filed a federal lawsuit to avoid having to close its 136 pharmacies there.
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