Sleeping longer on the weekend may help lower heart disease risk

For adults who struggle to get the recommended amount of quality sleep, new research suggests “catching up” those lost hours on the weekends may significantly decrease the risk of heart disease.

Many people build up “sleep debt” during the week, hoping to make up for it by getting extra hours over the weekend. Sleep debt is the difference between how much quality sleep we need — at least seven hours each night — and how much we actually get, according to the Cleveland Clinic.

In a new analysis being presented Sunday at the European Society of Cardiology Congress in London, cardiovascular researchers based in China found that people who got the most sleep on the weekend were 19% less likely to develop heart disease, compared with a group who slept the fewest extra hours those two days.

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