A new study shows that people who catch up on sleep during the weekends can reduce their risk of cardiovascular disease by about 20% compared to those who don’t or who catch up less.
The study examined data from 90,903 adults participating in the UK Biobank project, a database that holds health and lifestyle records of 500,000 individuals in the United Kingdom, including 19,816 individuals who were sleep-deprived.
Sleep deprivation can impact overall health, particularly cardiovascular health – (Illustrative image: Alamy).
According to the Guardian on August 29, after monitoring their conditions for 14 years, the research team found that those who slept more on weekends had a 19% lower risk of cardiovascular disease compared to those who slept less on weekends.
“Adequate sleep recovery is associated with a lower risk of cardiovascular disease. This relationship is even more pronounced in those who regularly do not get enough sleep during the week,” said Professor Yanjun Song, one of the study’s authors, who works at the National Center for Cardiovascular Diseases in China.
Accordingly, the study results indicate that for a significant portion of the modern society experiencing sleep deprivation, those who can catch up on sleep the most during weekends have a lower incidence of cardiovascular disease than those who catch up less.
“Many of us do not get enough sleep due to work or family obligations, and while sleeping in on the weekends cannot replace a full night of rest, this large-scale study suggests that catching up on sleep can help reduce cardiovascular risk,” noted Professor James Leiper, who works at the British Heart Foundation and was not involved in the study.
According to Leiper, sleep deprivation can affect overall health, and this study serves as an important reminder of the need to aim for at least 7 hours of sleep each night.
