Catching up on sleep over the weekend may have heart health benefits
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Key takeaways:
- Sleeping in over the weekend may reduce the likelihood of heart disease.
- As little as 1 hour and 15 minutes of extra sleep may benefit heart health.
- Getting less weekend vs. weekday sleep may heighten risk.
Catching up on sleep over the weekend was associated with lower likelihood of having heart disease compared with individuals who slept less than they would during the week, a speaker reported.
“Sufficient compensatory sleep is linked to a lower risk of heart disease,” Yanjun Song, of the State Key Laboratory of Infectious Disease, Fuwai Hospital, National Centre for Cardiovascular Disease in Beijing, China, said in a press release. “The association becomes even more pronounced among individuals who regularly experience inadequate sleep on weekdays.”
To better understand the CV impact of catching up on lost sleep during the weekend, Song and colleagues designed a prospective study. Their analysis included 90,903 U.K. adults with accelerometer-recorded (Axivity AX3) weekday and weekend sleep duration (mean age, 56 years; 42% men).
The outcome of interest was differences in CV events including ischemic heart disease, atrial fibrillation, HF and stroke.
Participants were sorted into quartiles based on mean sleep time on weekdays minus mean sleep time on weekends: 16.05 to 0.26 hours; 0.26 to 0.45 hours; 0.45 to 1.28 hours; and 1.28 to 16.06 hours.
Over a median follow-up of 14 years, individuals who got the most weekend compensatory sleep — 1.28 to 16.06 hours — were approximately 19% less likely to experience a CV event compared with those who received less sleep during weekends — 16.05 to 0.26 hours — compared with weekdays.
The effect was similar regardless of sex.
Sleep deprivation was self-reported among 21.8% of study participants and was defined as daily sleep of less than 7 hours.
Among those with sleep deprivation, those who received the most amount of weekend compensatory sleep had an approximately 20% lower likelihood for CV events during follow-up compared with individuals who slept less over the weekend.
The results were independent of genetic risk, according to the researchers.
“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,” Zechen Liu, of the State Key Laboratory of Infectious Disease, Fuwai Hospital, National Centre for Cardiovascular Disease, said in the release.
The researchers noted that the low prevalence of baseline sleep deprivation within the study population represents a limitation of the study strength.
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Song Y, et al. Exploring cardiovascular health: lifestyle, economics, and disparities. Presented at: European Society of Cardiology Congress; Aug. 30-Sept. 2, 2024; London (hybrid meeting).
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