New research presented at the European Society of Cardiology Congress 2024 suggests that people who “catch up” on missed sleep by sleeping in on weekends may see their risk of heart disease fall by as much as 20%.
The study, conducted by researchers from the National Center for Cardiovascular Diseases in Beijing, analyzed data from 90,903 individuals in the UK Biobank project. Nearly 20,000 participants were considered sleep-deprived, defined as sleeping less than seven hours per night.
After following the participants for almost 14 years, the researchers found that those who engaged in more compensatory sleep on weekends had a 19% lower risk of developing heart disease compared to those who “recovered” less sleep. For the group that habitually slept little during the week, the risk reduction was slightly higher at 20%, with no differences detected between men and women.
“Our results show that for a significant proportion of the population suffering from lack of sleep and inadequate weekday sleep, those who recover more sleep on weekends have significantly lower rates of heart disease than those who compensate less,” said study co-authors Yanjun Song and Zechen Liu.
Dr. Luis Rodríguez Padial, President of the Spanish Society of Cardiology (SEC), noted that this finding is significant because while sleep deprivation has been known as a cardiovascular risk factor, there was no evidence that correcting this lack of sleep would reduce the risk. Previous studies using UK Biobank data indicated that sleep deprivation increases the risk of cardiovascular disease by 20%, the same percentage reduction attributed to recovering from that deprivation over the weekends.
“We will have to wait for the details of the study to be published to know if weekend compensation corrects all the impact of regularly sleeping less than 7 hours the rest of the week,” commented Dr. Padial.
The research highlights the importance of prioritizing sleep for cardiovascular health. While catching up on sleep over the weekend may provide some benefits, experts emphasize the need for consistent, quality sleep throughout the week to maintain optimal heart health.