Health

Weekend lie-ins could protect against high blood pressure, new research suggests. Scientists say people should not feel guilty about sleeping in at the weekend as it could be the body’s way of recovering.

A seven-year study of 41,000 adults found people who slept in late at the weekend were less likely to have high blood pressure. Analysis identified the perfect amount of catch-up sleep – with a one-hour and 27-minute lie-in resulting in the most benefit. Someone getting this amount of extra sleep would be 9% less likely to have high blood pressure.

Study author Dr Nawon Lee, of Korea University in Seoul, said: “Not getting enough sleep puts extra stress on the body. It keeps the heart and blood vessels working harder and can increase blood pressure.

“Getting some extra sleep on the weekend may give the body a chance to recover and reduce some of that stress. People should not feel lazy or guilty for sleeping a little longer on the weekend. If they have not been able to get enough sleep during the week, some extra sleep on the weekend may simply be the body’s way of recovering from that sleep loss.”

The average British adult gets between 6 and 6.4 hours of sleep per night – below the recommended seven to nine hours. Not getting enough sleep is known to prevent blood pressure from dropping at night, which increases the risk of developing high blood pressure.

Officially known as hypertension, it is referred to in medical circles as the “silent killer” because it is often symptomless despite increasing the risk of heart attacks and strokes. Around one in three UK adults – or 13 million people – have hypertension but many are unaware.

Previous research had stressed the importance of having a regular bedtime and wake-up time and many experts dismissed the idea that you should catch up on missed sleep at the weekend.

However, the new research presented at the European Society of Cardiology showed that getting some catch-up sleep could boost heart health – but getting too much could still be harmful. People getting over four hours extra sleep at the weekend were at greater risk of hypertension.

Dr Lee added: “I think moderate weekend catch-up sleep may have a protective effect because, in people who are sleep-deprived during the week, the benefit of compensating for insufficient sleep may outweigh the potential harm from having an irregular sleep schedule.

“However when weekend catch-up sleep becomes excessive, the degree of sleep irregularity and circadian disruption may increase, which could offset that benefit.”

She added: “Keeping a regular sleep schedule is still important, but getting a moderate amount of catch-up sleep may be beneficial rather than something to feel bad about.”

Study participants who had any duration of catch-up sleep at the weekend were 6% less likely to have high blood pressure on average.

A greater benefit of weekend catch up sleep was seen in people who didn’t get enough exercise and were considered to be physically inactive. They were 6.9% less likely to have hypertension if they had weekend lie-ins.

Participants were deemed inactive if they did not get the World Health Organization’s weekly recommended 150 minutes of moderate exercise, or 75 minutes vigorous exercise, or a combination of both.