I slept in on the weekend, but… surprise research result “Risk of ‘this disease’ has decreased”

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– Research results suggest that people who catch up on missed sleep over the weekend due to insufficient sleep on weekdays may have better heart health compared to those who don’t.
– According to a recent study presented at the European Society of Cardiology conference by Chinese researchers, analysis of sleep and heart health data from participants in the UK Biobank database revealed this finding.
– Researchers classified 19,816 out of 99,903 participants who did not reach 7 hours of sleep as ‘sleep deprived’ and conducted a long-term follow-up study on them based on their weekend sleep habits.
– After comparing the groups over a period of about 14 years, the group that slept the most on weekends had a 19% lower rate of heart disease compared to the group that slept the least on weekends.
– However, experts cautioned that this study only analyzed correlation and does not imply a direct link between sleeping more on weekends and improving heart health. Dr. Muhammad Adil Rishi, an associate professor of sleep medicine at Indiana University School of Medicine, explained that there might be other unidentified factors influencing these study results.
– Experts also emphasized that sleeping a few extra hours on weekends cannot completely reverse the negative effects of chronic sleep deprivation.
– Dr. Rishi stated, “While sleeping longer on weekends may reduce fatigue and sleepiness, it may not reduce risks such as obesity that are more common among individuals with insufficient sleep.”
– According to the National Health Insurance Corporation, the number of patients treated for sleep disorders in South Korea reached 1,098,819 in 2022, marking a 28.5% increase over the past 5 years. It is important to be cautious as inadequate sleep can negatively impact immune function and the autonomic nervous system, leading to increased risk of conditions like depression, dementia, diabetes, and obesity.
– The recommended daily sleep duration for adults aged 18 and above, as advised by the International Society of Sleep, is 7.5 hours. Infants aged 2-13 months should sleep 14-15 hours, children aged 12 months to 3 years should sleep 12-14 hours, children aged 3-6 years should sleep 11-13 hours, children aged 6-12 years should sleep 10-11 hours, and teenagers aged 12-18 years should sleep 8.5-9.5 hours.