Many of us find it hard to balance a demanding workweek and personal life with a good and regular sleep schedule. As a result, sleep deprivation is a common occurrence. Luckily there is the weekend where most of us are able to catch up on some sleep but does this actually do us any good?
A team of researchers has studied the effects of "catch-up" sleep during the weekend on the heart using data from over 90.000 participants in the UK Biobank project and came to some interesting insights. In this article, we discuss their findings
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How Weekend Sleep Could Protect Your Heart
The study was led by a group of researchers at the Fuwai Hospital, National Centre for Cardiovascular Disease in Beijing and explored the relationship between compensatory sleep and heart disease risk.
As mentioned in the introduction, the team used data from 90,903 participants in the UK Biobank project, which is an incredibly large dataset for this kind of study. It turns out that those who managed to sleep in on weekends had a notably lower risk of heart disease compared to those who did not.
Participants were grouped based on the amount of compensatory sleep they got on weekends. The study revealed that individuals with the highest levels of catch-up sleep had a 19% lower likelihood of developing heart disease than those who had the least amount of catch-up sleep.
This protective effect was even more pronounced in those who regularly experienced sleep deprivation during the week, with a 20% reduction in heart disease risk if they slept in the most on weekends.
Hospital records and death registry information were used to track the incidence of various cardiac conditions, including ischemic heart disease, heart failure, atrial fibrillation, and stroke. Over a median follow-up period of nearly 14 years, the research confirmed the protective effects of weekend catch-up sleep across both men and women, regardless of gender.
Benefits from extra weekend sleep do of course not mean that you shouldn't aim to maintain a regular sleep pattern during the week after all inconsistent sleep patterns can have negative health effects.
Related Article: Why Irregular Sleep Patterns Could Be Bad for Your Health
Understanding the Long-Term Benefits of Catch-Up Sleep
The study's findings offer hope to those who struggle with getting enough sleep during the workweek. While it is well known that people often try to compensate for lost sleep by sleeping longer on weekends, this study is among the first to show a direct link between catch-up sleep and a lower risk of heart disease.
Co-author Mr. Zechen Liu: ''Our results show that for the significant proportion of the population in modern society that suffers from sleep deprivation, those who have the most ‘catch-up’ sleep at weekends have significantly lower rates of heart disease than those with the least.”
All in all, it may be beneficial to sleep in during the weekend if you have the opportunity. However, it is vital to try to maintain a regular sleep pattern regardless. For those looking to improve their sleep habits, we have written an article with some tips and advice that may help.
Sources and further reading:
Is it bad to listen to music while sleeping? (Universal-Sci)
Research finds that we really do need more sleep during winter (Universal-Sci)
A good night's sleep starts during the day - 10 simple tips to improve sleep quality (Universal-Sci)
Exploring cardiovascular health: lifestyle, economics, and disparities (European Society of Cardiology)
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