One study found that people who “caught up” on missed sleep over the weekend had up to a 20% lower risk of heart disease compared to people who didn’t.
The findings, presented at a meeting of the European Society of Cardiology, looked at data from 90,903 adults taking part in the UK Biobank programme, a database that holds medical and lifestyle records of 500,000 people in the UK.
Of these, 19,816 met criteria for insomnia, and in a 14-year follow-up study, researchers found that those who slept more on weekends had a 19% lower risk of heart disease. Less sleep on weekends.
Those who got extra sleep on weekends lost an additional 1.28 hours to 16.06 hours, and those who got less sleep lost 16.05 hours to 0.26 hours on the weekend.
The study also looked at a subgroup of people with daytime insomnia and found that those with the most compensatory sleep on the weekend had a 20% lower risk of heart disease.
Study author Professor Yanjun Chang, from the China National Center for Cardiovascular Disease in Beijing, said: “Adequate compensatory sleep is linked to a lower risk of heart disease. The association is even more pronounced among people who regularly experience insufficient sleep on weekdays.”
Zechen Liu, co-author of the study, said: “Our results show that people with ‘catchable’ sleep on the weekends have significantly lower rates of heart disease than people who suffer from insomnia, a significant proportion of the population in modern society.”
Professor James Leeper, associate medical director of the British Heart Foundation, who was not involved in the study, said: “Many of us don’t get enough sleep because of work or family commitments, and there’s no lying around at the weekend. Instead of getting a regular good night’s rest, this large study suggests it can help reduce the risk of heart disease.
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“We know that lack of sleep affects our overall well-being, and this research is an important reminder of how important it is to try to get at least seven hours of sleep each night. We look forward to future studies to better understand how sleep patterns can affect the heart and how we can adapt modern lifestyles to help improve our health.”
