The researchers looked at data from 90,903 people who are part of the UK Biobank project. Photograph: Chris Rout/Alamy – Heart disease
The findings, presented at a meeting of the European Society of Cardiology, looked at data from 90,903 adults taking part in the UK Biobank project, a database that holds medical and lifestyle records of 500,000 people in the UK.
Of these, 19,816 met the criteria for being sleep deprived, and over a follow-up period of 14 years the researchers found that the people who had the most extra sleep during the weekends were 19% less likely to develop heart disease than those who had the least amount of sleep at the weekends.
Those who got extra sleep at weekends ranged from an additional 1.28 hours to 16.06 hours, and those with the least sleep were losing 16.05 hours to 0.26 hours over the weekend.
The study also looked at a sub-group of people with daily sleep deprivation and found that those who had the most compensatory sleep at the weekend had a 20% lower risk of developing heart disease than those with the least.
Prof Yanjun Song, the study’s author, of China’s National Center for Cardiovascular Disease in Beijing, said: “Sufficient compensatory sleep is linked to a lower risk of heart disease. The association becomes even more pronounced among individuals who regularly experience inadequate sleep on weekdays.”
Zechen Liu, a co-author of the study, said: “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.”
Prof James Leiper, an associate medical director at the British Heart Foundation, who was not involved in the study, said: “Lots of us don’t get enough sleep due to work or family commitments, and while a weekend lie-in is no replacement for a regular good night’s rest, this large study suggests that it might help reduce risk of heart disease.
“We know that lack of sleep can affect our overall wellbeing, and this research is an important reminder of how important it is to try to get at least seven hours’ sleep every night. We look forward to future studies to better understand how sleep patterns can impact the heart and how we can adapt modern lifestyles to help improve our health.”
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