As busy STEM students, we are no strangers to the many hours of studying that often lead to sleep deprivation. However, our intellectual passions and subsequent lack of study/sleep balance may increase our risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD).
Recently, a study on more than 90,000 individuals recorded in UK BioBank data conducted by researchers at the National Center for Cardiovascular Disease in Beijing, China, found that individuals who took the time to catch-up on sleep over the weekends had a 20% lower risk of developing CVD.
Compiling data from around 90,903 subjects and seeking to evaluate the relationship between compensatory weekend sleep and heart disease, particularly in those diagnosed with Type II Diabetes, the researchers grouped, in quartiles, sleep data recorded using accelerometers. These quartiles were divided from most compensated sleep to least: Q1 (n = 22,474) having the least amount of compensated sleep, with approximately -16.05 to - 0.26 hours (having slept less), Q2 (n = 22,901) having - 0.26 to + 0.45 hours, Q3 (n = 22,692) having + 0.45 to + 1.28 hours, and Q4 (n = 22,695) having the most compensatory sleep at + 1.28 to + 16.06 hours.
Within the study, sleep deprivation was self-reported, with individuals reporting less than 7 hours of sleep/night defined as experiencing sleep deprivation. As such, a total of 19,816 (or 21.8%) of participants were defined as being sleep deprived. While the rest of the cohort may have experienced the occasional bout of inadequate sleep, their daily hours of sleep, on average, did not meet the sleep deprivation criteria.
Additionally, hospitalization records and cause of death registry information was used to diagnose cardiovascular diseases, including ischemic heart disease (IHD), heart failure (HF), atrial fibrillation (AF), and stroke.
Having a median follow-up of nearly 14 years, individuals in the group with the highest amounts of compensatory sleep (Q4) were ~19% less likely to develop heart disease than those with the least amount of compensatory sleep (Q1). Additionally, in the subgroup of patients with almost daily sleep deprivation, those with the most compensatory sleep had a 20% reduced risk of developing CVD than those with the least. This analysis did not reveal and significant differences between men and women.
TL;DR - Don't continue to stress yourself out between Friday and Monday! Turn off your alarms, draw the blinds, and let your body catch-up on some sleep! It may help guarantee you a healthier heart.
- Via
I found it surprising that the group with consistent weekly sleep deprivation and compensatory sleep had a considerable decrease in likelihood of developing a chronic disease (20%) since I initially thought that putting our bodies through so much stress (via sleep deprivation) throughout the week would still negate much of the benefits of sleeping in. From this paper, I am interested to know if there is a "sweet spot" for how much we should sleep in since we should also avoid drastically impacting our circadian rhythm by having an excess of sleep on the weekend. Moving beyond this study, it would be intriguing to research if compensatory sleep could also improve memory recollection over the long run since sleep is crucial for memory storage, but memory formation tends to be the best when spread out instead of crammed into a couple days. Above all, it is reassuring to know that there are already valid reasons for sleeping in on the weekends, so hopefully it can be something that I can incorporate into my life without feeling guilty about it.
ReplyDeleteI found your post interesting, especially the part about the percentage of individuals in (Q4) with the least amount of sleep deprivation. It's fascinating that these individuals have a 20% decreased risk of developing CVD with just two extra days of sleep compared to their usual sleep schedule. The human body's ability to repair and function better with a small increase in sleep is truly remarkable. Like JohnN, I'm also curious if there's a specific optimal time for sleep that would be most beneficial for work and our overall health. I assume that the best time for sleep varies among individuals since we all have different sleep patterns.
ReplyDeleteVia, this is an awesome post! I think this does a great job of pointing out how, although many of us strive for academic excellence, we should not do so at the expense of our well-being. This really gets me thinking about the people who work graveyard shifts and how their sleep is impacted, especially because our circadian rhythms rely on the light-dark cycle. Sleep is so important, as you illustrated here.
ReplyDeleteOn average, I get about 6-7 hours of sleep a night, especially during the school year. This is concerning because according to the study, experiencing sleep deprivation was defined as getting less than 7 hours of sleep per night. As such, this post stuck out to me because it made me realize that I need to focus on prioritizing my sleep and health to prevent/decrease my risk of CVD. Moreover, I found it interesting that compensatory sleep reduced the risk of developing CVD by 20%, which puts into perspective of how important and beneficial getting adequate sleep for even a couple of days can be. Many students sacrifice their sleep in order to do well academically, however, ironically, losing sleep can also impair our ability to learn and remember information, in addition to increasing risk of CVD. Therefore, I really appreciated reading this post and realizing that getting enough sleep is crucial and that the lack of sleep that I brush off as nothing does, in fact, affect my health.
ReplyDeleteThis post is so interesting to read , yes as a stem student sometime we forgot the time to sleep by balancing all heavy workload for school ,I didn't know that lack of sleep could cause us to have a CVD that is interesting to know , it is great to know sleep in the weekend will help catch up the reduced of CVD risk. Since the study found that 20% reduced risk of CVD is those who are compensated for lost of sleep really make me reconsider my approach to rest. It’s a good reminder that pushing ourselves constantly isn’t always worth it, and taking time to recharge might be one of the best things we can do to invest for our health.
ReplyDeleteThis is such an interesting post to read! I always try to sleep more on the weekends just because I have time to, but I always thought that it wasn't really changing much for my overall health because of my sleep during the week. 20% is a very large difference, however, in risk for cardiovascular disease. My only question about this study itself is if the fact that sleep deprivation was self reported would affect any of the results that it found. I have found that before I got my fitbit that tracks sleep, I thought that I was getting at least 8 hours a night, but now with the data from the fitbit, I can see that I average a lot lower than I originally thought. There are times also where I think that I go to bed much earlier than I did, but I was not actually asleep until much later. I wonder how the researchers were sure that the percent of people that they found to be sleep deprived was accurate, and if they used any additional measures to make sure.
ReplyDeleteI found this extremely interesting to read! I find it pretty ironic how most of us are future healthcare workers/ providers, and we know the issues that come along with sleep deprivation and yet we are the ones that are constantly sleep deprived. Most of us have a sleep deficits that has only been adding the longer we are in school or in this field. It is highly important to put yourself first and take the appropriate times to rest and sleep. Especially with this new understanding, CVD can be a reality for most of us so we have to do our best to get appropriate rest and exercise if we want to continue making a difference!
ReplyDeleteWhat an interesting blog! It is very surprising that even though the subjects in the study were sleep deprived during the week that compensatory sleep decrease the chance of developing heart disease by 20%! I will definitely, make sure to turn off my alarm on the weekends. For my health, of course!
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