BERNAMA/DPA – Research suggests that catching up on lost sleep during the weekends could reduce the risk of heart disease by up to 20 per cent.
Data from over 90,000 people in the United Kingdom (UK) indicates that making up for lack of sleep during the week with extra rest on weekends can help counter the harmful effects of sleep deprivation.
Findings presented at the European Society of Cardiology’s annual meeting in London revealed that sleep-deprived individuals who had the most weekend “catch-up” sleep saw their heart disease risk drop by a fifth, compared to those who got no extra rest or even less sleep on weekends.
Study author Song Yanjun, of the National Centre for Cardiovascular Disease, Fuwai Hospital, in Beijing, China, said, “Sufficient compensatory sleep is linked to a lower risk of heart disease.
“The association becomes even more pronounced among individuals who regularly experience inadequate sleep on weekdays.”
For the study, the authors looked at self-reported data from 90,903 people who are part of the UK Biobank project, which holds medical and lifestyle records of half a million individuals.
Of them, 19,816 met the criteria for being sleep-deprived.
Hospital records and cause of death registry information were used to identify those who had heart diseases, heart failure, irregular heart rhythm and stroke.
Over a follow-up period of 14 years, the team found that people with the most extra sleep (ranging from 1.28 to 16.06 hours of additional sleep during weekends), were 19 per cent less likely to develop heart disease than those with the least amount of compensatory sleep (ranging from losing 16.05 hours to 0.26 hours over the weekend).
In a sub-group of people with daily sleep deprivation, those with the most compensatory sleep had a 20 per cent lower risk of developing heart disease than those with the least, the researchers said.
“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,” said study co-author Liu Zechen. “Lots of us don’t get enough sleep due to work or family commitments, and while a weekend lie-in is no replacement for a regular good night’s rest, this large study suggests that it might help reduce risk of heart disease,” said British Heart Foundation Associate Medical Director Professor Dr James Leiper, commenting on the study.
“We know that lack of sleep can affect our overall well-being, and this research is an important reminder of how important it is to try to get at least seven hours’ sleep every night.”
