Study finds sleeping in at the weekends could cut heart disease risk by 20%

A recent study found that people who slept extra hours on weekends were up to 20 per cent less likely to develop heart disease compared to those who didn’t.

If you’re in a constant battle to get your teens out of bed at the weekends or even struggle to get yourself up, rest assured because catching up on missed sleep may be more beneficial than previously thought.

An extensive new study reveals that sleeping in at the weekend may help mitigate risks associated with sleep deprivation. The findings, presented at a meeting of the European Society of Cardiology, demonstrated that people who caught some extra winks on their days off lowered their risk of heart disease by up to 90 percent.

“Sufficient compensatory sleep is linked to a lower risk of heart disease,” Yanjun Song, the author of the study from the National Centre for Cardiovascular Disease and Fuwai Hospital in Beijing, China, said.

“The association becomes even more pronounced among individuals who regularly experience inadequate sleep on weekdays,” he added.

Sleeping Fewer than Seven Hours Can Contribute to Health Problems

The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) report that adults who sleep for fewer than seven hours per night are more likely to experience problems that impact the heart. This can raise the risk of heart disease, heart attacks, and strokes.

Researchers conducted a comprehensive analysis using data from the UK Biobank project, a large-scale health database involving nearly 91,000 individuals. The study aimed to investigate the relationship between weekend sleep and the risk of heart disease.

Individuals who reported sleeping fewer than seven hours per night were classified as sleep-deprived, accounting for approximately 22% of the participants. Medical records were examined over a 14-year period to identify individuals who developed heart problems such as heart disease, heart failure, irregular heartbeat, or stroke.

Participants were categorised into four groups based on their amount of additional sleep on weekends compared to weekdays. The group with the most additional sleep had between 1.28 and 16.06 hours, while the group with the least additional sleep had between 16.05 and 0.26 hours.

The study found that individuals who consistently caught up on sleep during weekends had a 19% lower risk of heart disease compared to those who did not. This effect was particularly pronounced in the subgroup of individuals with daily sleep deprivation, who experienced a 20% lower risk of heart disease with more weekend sleep.

The findings of this study emphasise the importance of prioritising sufficient sleep, even if it means catching up on weekends, to improve heart health.