Catching up on sleep over weekends may reduce heart disease risk – new study finds

Getting a good night’s sleep is crucial for maintaining both physical and mental health, alongside a balanced diet and regular exercise.

Chronic sleep deprivation has been linked to an increased risk of serious conditions like diabetes and heart disease.

So, if you’re sleep deprived during weekdays, try to make up for it by getting extra sleep on weekends.

A new study has revealed catching up with compensatory sleep on weekends can significantly reduce the risk of heart disease.

The study conducted by the National Centre for Cardiovascular Disease in Beijing, China, found that individuals who catch up on sleep over the weekend may
lower their risk of heart disease by one-fifth.

Study co-author Yanjun Song from the State Key Laboratory of Infectious Disease at Fuwai Hospital emphasised that the benefit of compensatory sleep was even
more pronounced among individuals who regularly experience inadequate sleep on weekdays.

The researchers used data from 90,903 subjects involved in the UK Biobank project to evaluate the relationship between compensated weekend sleep and heart disease.

More than 21 per cent of the participants were identified as sleep-deprived – defined as getting less than seven hours of sleep per night.