A recent study conducted by researchers at Pennsylvania State University (PSU) has shown that despite the high health risks associated with sleep deprivation, only 65% of adults in the US regularly get the recommended seven hours of sleep per night. Many people believe that they can make up for lost sleep during the week by sleeping in on the weekends. However, a new study published in the journal Psychosomatic Medicine has found that this may not be the case.
The study involved 15 healthy men between the ages of 20 and 35 who participated in an 11-day sleep study. During the first three nights, the participants were allowed to sleep up to ten hours to establish a baseline. For the next five nights, their sleep was restricted to just five hours per night, followed by two nights of recovery sleep where they were allowed to sleep up to ten hours again. Throughout the study, the researchers measured the participants’ heart rate and blood pressure every two hours during the day to analyze the effects of sleep duration on cardiovascular health.
The results showed that both heart rate and systolic blood pressure increased with each day of restricted sleep and did not return to baseline levels even after the two nights of recovery sleep. The study’s lead author, Anne-Marie Chang, emphasized the importance of longer recovery periods to fully compensate for multiple nights of sleep deprivation. This study highlights the need for individuals to prioritize getting enough sleep on a regular basis rather than relying on weekend catch-up sleep to make up for lost sleep during the week.
