If you find yourself sleeping in on the weekends to make up for lost sleep during the week, you’re not alone. Until now, scientific evidence supporting the benefits of this practice has been limited, but new research from Chinese scientists appears to prove the health benefits of catching up on sleep.
The study, presented at this year’s European Society of Cardiology Congress, used data from 90,903 subjects to examine the relationship between compensated weekend sleep and heart disease. Sleep deprivation was defined as regularly sleeping less than seven hours a night, and approximately 21.8% of participants fell into this category.
The researchers found that those who got the most compensatory sleep were 19 percent less likely to develop heart disease than those who got the least. Among those who were sleep deprived daily, those who got the most compensatory sleep had a 20 percent lower risk of developing heart disease than those who got the least sleep.
“Adequate compensatory sleep is linked to a lower risk of heart disease,” study co-author Yanjun Song said in a statement. “This association is even more pronounced among individuals who regularly experience insufficient sleep on weekdays.”
Co-author Zechen Liu explained the benefits of sleeping in on the weekends if you have trouble staying awake during the week.
“Our results suggest that, in a significant proportion of the population who suffer from sleep deprivation in modern society, those who get the most 'compensatory' sleep on weekends have significantly lower rates of heart disease compared to those who sleep the least.”
Get some sleep this weekend because you feel like it.
