What a weekend snooze could do for your heart health, according to new research

When it comes to maintaining a regular sleep schedule, sometimes a busy week can throw everything out of whack even when you have the best of intentions.

Naturally, catching up on sleep over the weekend is often the solution. New research suggests doing so may even benefit your heart health, amounting to a 19 per cent lower risk of developing heart disease, according to a research abstract published Thursday. The abstract hasn’t been published in a journal but will be presented at the European Society of Cardiology’s annual congress onSunday, September 1.

“The association becomes even more pronounced among individuals who regularly experience inadequate sleep on weekdays,” said research coauthor Yanjun Song of the State Key Laboratory of Infectious Disease of the National Center for Cardiovascular Disease at Fuwai Hospital in Beijing, in a news release.

The authors used data from 90,903 participants in the UK Biobank study, which has followed the health outcomes of more than 500,000 people generally between the ages 40 and 69 in the United Kingdom.

Data on participants’ sleep quantity was measured using activity-monitoring watches, and was divided into four groups, from those who compensated for lost sleep on weekends the least to those who did the most. Group No. 1 got 0.26 to 16.05 fewer hours of sleep on the weekends, while on the other end of the spectrum, group No. 4 got 1.28 to about 16 more hours of sleep on weekends than they did during the week.

After a follow-up period of nearly 14 years on average, the group with the most weekend compensatory sleep was 19 per cent less likely to develop cardiovascular conditions such as heart disease, heart failure, atrial fibrillation and stroke, compared with the group compensating for sleep the least on weekends.

In the subgroup of participants with daily sleep deprivation (defined as getting less than seven hours of sleep per night), those with the most compensatory sleep had a 20 per cent lower risk of heart disease than participants who caught up on sleep the least. None of the findings differentiated by gender.

“While the study does have limitations, such as focusing exclusively on the UK population, its findings underscore the negative impact of chronic sleep deprivation on cardiovascular health,” said Dr. Nieca Goldberg, medical director of Atria New York City and clinical associate professor of medicine at New York University’s Grossman School of Medicine, via email. Goldberg wasn’t involved in the research.

Other experts suggested people still address inconsistent sleep patterns since it can affect more than just heart health.

Previous research into weekend sleep catchup has also shown mixed results.Past studies have found that differences in sleep duration and timing between weekdays and weekends — known as social jet lag — are linked with heart disease risk, said Dr. Nour Makarem, assistant professor of epidemiology at Columbia University’s Mailman School of Public Health, who wasn’t involved in the research.

“Another study demonstrated that trying to make up for sleep deprivation was not effective and in fact worsened diet, resulted in weight gain and reduced insulin sensitivity,” said Dr. Martha Gulati, director of preventive cardiology at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles and associate director of cardiology at the Barbra Streisand Women’s Heart Center, via email. “So it isn’t fully clear, even with this study, which is actually the case.”

For that reason, more regular sleep patterns every day of the week are best for optimal heart health, Makarem said.

But the findings of the latest research indicate that “when this is not possible and an individual is sleep deprived during the week, sufficient compensatory sleep during the weekend may be protective,” she added.

How sleep supports heart health

Since the research is still in abstract form, it’s “unclear what other risk factors for heart disease or other aspects of sleep were accounted … for in the analysis,” Makarem said via email.

The authors did, however, account for genetic risk, which is a strength of the research, she added — and hopeful news for people with known genetic risk factors since the association between compensatory sleep and lower heart disease risk persisted regardless.

The findings could be partly explained by sleep’s relation to healthier blood glucose and blood pressure levels, better dietary choices and lower risk for obesity, Makarem said.

“Lack of sleep can lead to numerous heart issues including high blood pressure, high cholesterol, heart attack, obesity, diabetes, and stroke,” Goldberg said. “Additionally, interrupted sleep may elevate the risk of high blood pressure and arrhythmias.”

Sufficient sleep is also associated with better psychological health, which in turn is related to lower risk for heart disease, Makarem said. “Sleep is restorative and a key component of heart health preservation.”

There are still other unanswered questions, Gulati said: Is there a threshold of too much sleep on the weekend? Is there a minimal amount of sleep you need to get daily that you can’t make up? And for those who sleep properly, do they have an even better chance at not developing heart disease?

“Perhaps the mechanism of these findings is that making it up is better than not getting it at all,” Gulati said.

“To promote heart health, it’s recommended to aim for at least seven hours of sleep each night and maintain a consistent sleep pattern,” Goldberg said.

That includes sleeping and waking at the same time each day as much as possible, Makarem said.

“If (you are) having trouble sleeping, you can discuss it with your doctor,” Goldberg said. “Remember, you are the best advocate for your health.”