Sleeping in on Weekends May Offer Health Benefits, Study Suggests

Catching up on sleep over the weekend may provide health benefits, particularly in reducing the risk of high blood pressure, according to new research. While a consistent sleep schedule is often emphasized for good sleep hygiene, the study suggests that extra sleep on days off is not necessarily detrimental.

Data from over 41,000 adults analyzed between 2016 and 2023 by scientists at Korea University indicated that individuals who slept longer on weekends were up to 9% less likely to develop high blood pressure. Dr. Nawon Lee, the study's author, explained that insufficient sleep places stress on the body, making the heart and blood vessels work harder and potentially increasing blood pressure. "Getting some extra sleep on the weekend may give the body a chance to recover and reduce some of that stress," Lee stated. The research implies that individuals should not feel guilty about sleeping a bit longer on weekends if they have experienced sleep deprivation during the week, as it can be the body's natural way of recovering.

The American Heart Association recognizes sleep as a crucial component of cardiovascular health, including it in their Life's Essential 8 checklist. Sleep deprivation is identified as a risk factor for hypertension, or high blood pressure, which affects nearly half of American adults. Normally, blood pressure is expected to drop by about 10% during sleep, a phenomenon known as "nocturnal dipping."

However, the study also cautioned that excessive weekend sleep could be counterproductive. Sleeping more than four extra hours on weekends was found to increase the risk of hypertension. Lee suggested that too much additional sleep could exacerbate sleep irregularity and circadian disruption, potentially negating any benefits. Previous studies have linked irregular sleep patterns to an increased risk of stroke, heart failure, and heart attack, with irregular sleepers being 26% more likely to experience such events. The optimal amount of extra weekend sleep identified in the research was approximately one hour and 27 minutes.