Catching up on sleep on weekends may lower risk of heart disease, research finds

(Sara Moniuszko/ CBS News) — Busy week have you catching up on sleep during the weekend? That may be good for your heart health, according to new research.

In a study set to be presented at the European Society of Cardiology Congress on Sunday, researchers found the risk of heart disease fell about 20% for people who slept in on the weekends to catch up on sleep lost earlier in the week. 

The study used data from 90,903 people, whose sleep patterns were self-reported. In the study, sleep deprivation was defined as having less than seven hours of sleep per night. A total of 19,816 participants were categorized as sleep deprived and underwent a health follow-up over a decade later.

“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 at weekends have significantly lower rates of heart disease than those with the least,” co-author Zechen Liu said in a news release. (…)