A “secret weapon” against heart disease: What you should know about compensated sleep.
A “Secret Weapon” Against Heart Disease
I am not going to lie.
I often fall just short of seven hours of sleep, even as I preach about the health benefits of sufficient sleep.
But I am known for taking the occasional weekend nap.
“Awake,chaos:we have napped.”
― e.e. Cummings
Not Everyone Admires My Naps
I have been reading Marcus Aurelius’ Meditations.
This passage delighted and irritated me:
“At dawn, when you have trouble getting out of bed, tell yourself: “I have to go to work — as a human being. What do I have to complain about if I’m going to do what I was born for — the things I was brought into the world to do? Or is this what I was created for? To huddle under the blankets and stay warm?
— But it’s nicer here.
So you were born to feel “nice”? Instead of doing things and experiencing them? Don’t you see the plants, birds, ants, spiders, and bees doing their tasks, putting the world in order as best they can? And you’re not willing to do your job as a human being? Why aren’t you running to do what your nature demands?
— But we have to sleep sometime.
Agreed. But nature set a limit on that — as it did on eating and drinking. And you’re over the limit. You’ve had more than enough of that. But it is not working. There, you’re still below your quota.
You don’t love yourself enough. Or you’d love your nature too, and what it demands of you. People who love what they do wear themselves down doing it; they even forget to wash or eat. Do you have less respect for your nature than the engraver does for engraving, the dancer for the dance, the miser for money, or the social climber for status? When they’re possessed by what they do, they’d rather stop eating and sleeping than give up practicing their arts.
Is helping others less valuable to you? Not worth your effort?”
― Marcus Aurelius, Meditations
A New Study on “Compensated Sleep”
A recent study evaluated the association between heart disease and “compensated sleep.”
Let’s start with the comforting findings:
For those of us who have challenges getting seven to nine hours of sleep, “catching up” on those lost hours on the weekends may significantly lower our risk of heart disease.
In an upcoming presentation at the European Society of Cardiology in London, China-based researchers discovered that folks getting the most sleep on the weekend were about one-fifth less likely to develop heart disease.
This outcome compares with those who slept the fewest extra hours.
Study Details
The Beijing-based researchers analyzed data from nearly 91,000 individuals involved in the UK Biobank project.
The investigators evaluated the relationship between heart disease and “compensated sleep” — catching up (during the weekend) on lost sleep.
Each subject self-reported their sleep hours.
Roughly one in five were sleep-deprived, defined as having under seven hours of nightly sleep.
The study authors divided participants into four groups based on how much extra (“compensated”) sleep they could “catch up” on during the weekend.
Study Follow-up
Using hospital records and cause-of-death registry information, the researchers determined if subjects developed heart disease.
After a mean follow-up of nearly 14 years, participants who compensated with the most extra sleep on the weekend—from a little over an hour to about 16 hours—were 19 percent less likely to develop heart disease than those who slept the least over the weekend.
My Take — Sleep Debt and More
Many of us build up “sleep debt” during the week.
We may hope to make up for the missing hours by getting some extra ones over the weekend.
You already know that insufficient sleep is associated with poorer health.
Do you try to compensate for sleep debt—the difference between the quality sleep we need—at least seven hours each night—and the amount we get?
Not So Fast — My Critiques
I am delighted with the study findings, but before we have to recognize some research issues:
- An association does not prove causality. This research does not prove that weekend cath-up sleep leads to better heart health.
- Our extra snooze hours on the weekend may not undo all the badness of a large sleep debt. Grabbing those few bonus hours on the weekend can increase our snacking, promoting weight gain. A 2019 study illustrates that problem.
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drmichaelhunter.medium.com
Thank you for reading “This ‘Secret Weapon’ Against Heart Disease is Hiding in Plain Sight.”What you should know about compensated sleep.
