Not getting enough sleep is linked to a host of health issues, including an increased risk of cardiovascular disease. But for those who struggle to get enough sleep during the week, new research suggests getting caught up on Saturdays and Sundays could help.
The data, presented at the European Society of Cardiology Congress on August 29, found that people who slept in on the weekends had a lower risk of heart disease compared to those who didn’t.
“The association becomes even more pronounced among individuals who regularly experience inadequate sleep on weekdays,” Yanjun Song, study co-author and researcher at the State Key Laboratory of Cardiovascular Disease at Fuwai Hospital in Beijing, said in a statement.
European Society of Cardiology. Catching up on sleep on weekends may lower heart disease risk by up to 20%.
The investigators evaluated data from nearly 91,000 U.K. Biobank participants, 22% of whom were considered sleep-deprived (sleeping less than seven hours per night). [...]
How Does Getting Caught Up on Your Sleep Affect Your Health?
There have been a number of studies on how catch-up sleep impacts the body. However, the findings are mixed.
A 2018 study found that people who didn’t sleep enough during the week but caught up on weekends ended up living longer than those who were chronically sleep-deprived. Other research found sleep weekend warriors had better health outcomes, and another linked getting extra sleep on the weekends to lower inflammation.
“‘Catching up on sleep’ is not as simple as it appears,” said Michael Grandner, PhD, associate professor and director of the Sleep and Health Research Program at the University of Arizona College of Medicine.
Though sleep researchers are still investigating how sleeping in on the weekends affects the body, experts are in agreement that regular sleep deprivation is not good for our health. People who sleep less than seven hours per night are at risk of developing hypertension, type 2 diabetes, and obesity, all of which can increase the risk of heart disease, heart attack, and stroke.
“We know that people who do not get healthy sleep are at an increased risk of heart disease,” Grandner told Health. But the exact mechanism behind that connection is just beginning to be studied, he said.