Sleeping longer on weekends could lower heart disease risk by 20%, study finds

For many people who wake up early to attend school or work during the week, lack of sleep is a common complaint.

In a recent Gallup poll, 57% of adults said they would "feel better if they got more sleep," while only 42% said they get "as much sleep as they need."

Sleeping late on the weekends is a natural response for some — and new research has found that catching up on shuteye in this way can have surprising benefits for heart health.

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At the European Society of Cardiology (ESC) Congress 2024 in London, which will take place Aug. 30 through Sept. 2, Chinese cardiovascular researchers will present findings from a U.K. Biobank study, which analyzed sleep data from 90,903 individuals over a median of 14 years.

"Although it's not a double-blinded prospective randomized trial, it shows a significant decrease in the risk of heart disease in a large group who slept more on weekends," a doctor told Fox News Digital of the study. (iStock)

A total of 19,816 (21.8%) of these participants reported being sleep-deprived, getting less than seven hours of sleep per night, while the rest experienced occasional inadequate sleep, according to a press release on the ESC website.

Those who caught up on the most sleep over the weekends were found to have a 20% lower risk of developing heart disease — including ischemic heart disease, heart failure, atrial fibrillation and stroke — compared to those with the least sleep.

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This was based on analysis of hospitalization records and death registry information, the release stated.

Study co-author Yanjun Song of the State Key Laboratory of Infectious Disease at Fuwai Hospital, National Centre for Cardiovascular Disease, in Beijing, China, confirmed in the release that "sufficient compensatory sleep is linked to a lower risk of heart disease."

Those who caught up on the most sleep over the weekends were found to have a 20% lower risk of developing heart disease. (iStock)

He added, "The association becomes even more pronounced among individuals who regularly experience inadequate sleep on weekdays."

Co-author Zechen Liu, who belongs to the same hospital, commented in the release, "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 [on] weekends have significantly lower rates of heart disease than those with the least." 

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Dr. Marc Siegel, senior medical analyst for Fox News and clinical professor of medicine at NYU Langone Medical Center, said the new research is "revealing."

"Although it's not a double-blinded prospective randomized trial, it shows a significant decrease in the risk of heart disease in a large group who slept more on weekends," Siegel, who was not involved in the research, told Fox News Digital. 

The new study indicates "a significant decrease in the risk of heart disease in a large group who slept more on weekends." (iStock)

Making up for "sleep debt" on weekends is restorative, the doctor said, allowing the brain to purge itself of toxins. 

"It is recuperative with overall less stress hormone release, which impacts the heart favorably," Siegel added.

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Dr. Wendy Troxel, PhD, a senior behavioral and social scientist at RAND Corporation in Park City, Utah, told Fox News Digital that these findings should be considered "preliminary," as they were presented at a conference instead of in a peer-reviewed publication.

Although the nature of the study gives "limited details about the study methodology," Troxel commented that the findings are "consistent with robust literature demonstrating the health consequences of chronic insufficient sleep." 

Making up for "sleep debt" on weekends is restorative, a doctor said, allowing the brain to purge itself of toxins.  (iStock)

"In addition, they suggest that some level of weekend ‘catch-up’ sleep may offset some of these consequences," she said.

"However, a strong word of caution is warranted, as there is also substantial evidence to show that irregular sleep schedules, including excessive weekend catch-up sleep, also has health consequences."

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The expert reiterated that this data should not give people the "false sense" of being able to make up for sleep deprivation by simply sleeping in on the weekends.

"The best advice still remains — people need to prioritize getting adequate sleep duration on weekdays and weekends," she said, recommending a "relatively consistent" sleep-wake schedule every day.

Dr. Wendy Troxel, Senior Behavioral Scientist, RAND Corporation and author of "Sharing the Covers: Every Couple’s Guide to Better Sleep" and scientific advisor for sleepfoundation.org.  (Diane Baldwin)

She added, "If you are going to sleep in, try to keep your wake-up time within an hour or two of your usual wake-up time."

The study authors recognized that a majority of the respondents' sleep habits did not meet the criteria for sleep deprivation, which is a limitation of the study.

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Fox News Digital reached out to the researchers for further comment.