Previous research has emphasized the importance of a regular sleep schedule and does not recommend sleeping in longer on the weekends, even if you feel sleep deprived. However, this study, based on data from 90,903 individuals who participated in the UK Biobank project, suggests the opposite.
“Sleeping longer is associated with a lower risk of heart disease,” said Yanjun Song, one of the study’s authors. “This relationship is even more pronounced among individuals who regularly get enough sleep during the week.”
Of the biobank subjects, 21.8 percent of respondents self-reported sleep deprivation—that is, they reported not regularly sleeping more than seven hours a night.
The researchers divided the subjects into four groups of roughly equal size, ranging from those who slept the most to those who slept the least.
To assess heart disease risk, researchers analyzed participants’ hospital and death records for ischemic heart disease, heart failure, arrhythmia, and stroke.
Comparing the data of all study participants, the researchers found that the group that slept the most on weekends had a 19 percent a lower chance of developing heart disease in the coming years.
Participants who said they lacked sleep but compensated for it by getting more sleep on the weekends had a 20 percent lower risk of heart disease than those who slept the least.
The authors of the ESC study said the study aims to combat the lack of evidence on whether sleeping longer after sleep deprivation can benefit heart health. The findings of previous studies are inconsistent, and many of them directly contradict the results of this study.
Newsweek notes that it is recommended that adults get at least seven hours of sleep per night.
2024-08-31 08:28:21