A recent study suggests that people who 'catch up' on their sleep lower the risk of heart disease by up to 20 per cent. With the busy schedules, the amount of sleep one gets may vary, which can lead to 'sleep disruption' and 'deprivation'.
A study done by 'ESC Congress 2024' shows that those who sleep on weekends may see the risk of heart disease falling by one fifth.
The co-author of the study Yanjun Song of the State Key Laboratory of Infectious Disease, Fuwai Hospital said, "Sufficient compensatory sleep is linked to a lower risk of heart disease."
He also mentioned how catching up on sleep during the weekends is more pronounced among those who regularly experience inadequate sleep on daily basis.
Co-author Mr Zechen Liu also added, "Our results show that for the significant proportion of the population in modern society that suffers from sleep deprivation, those who have the most ‘catch-up’ sleep at weekends have significantly lower rates of heart disease than those with the least."
However, there isn't sufficient study done on whether the sleep on weekends help heart health.
This study used the data from 90,903 people to see if the amount of compensatory sleep one gets helps with lowering the risk of heart disease. The data of sleep was recorded using accelerometers (a device used for measuring acceleration forces) and was then grouped by quartiles.
Here's how the data used
Q1 (n = 22,475 was the least compensated, having -16.05 hours to -0.26 hours (i.e., having even less sleep); Q2 (n = 22,901) had -0.26 to +0.45 hours; Q3 (n=22,692) had +0.45 to +1.28 hours, and Q4 (n=22,695) had the most compensatory sleep (1.28 to 16.06 hours).
The participants grouped in quartiles with Q1 having the least and Q4 having the most compensatory sleep.
The study said that people who were sleep deprived were self-reported. Self-deprivation was defined as getting less than 7 hours of sleep per night. Total of 19,816 individuals were sleep deprived and made a total of 21.8 per cent of participants.
However, the study found a limitation to data as the rest of the individuals who were not in the sleep deprived category got 'occasional inadequate sleep', but their daily sleep hours did not meet the criteria of sleep deprivation.
19 per cent individuals (Quartile 4) got the most compensatory sleep and were less likely to develop a heart disease compared to those who did not, the study found. The study did not show any difference between men and women.