Sleeping In Lowers Heart Disease Risk, Study Finds

If you sleep in on weekends to catch up on lost sleep during the week, you're not alone. Up until now, the scientific evidence supporting the benefits of this practice have been limited, but new research from Chinese scientists seems to prove the health benefits of catching up on sleep.

The study, presented at this year's European Society of Cardiology Congress, used data from 90,903 subjects to examine the relationship between compensated weekend sleep and heart disease. Sleep deprivation was defined as regularly getting less than seven hours of sleep per night, with approximately 21.8 percent of participants falling into that category.

The researchers found that that those who got the most compensatory sleep were 19 percent less likely to develop heart disease than those with the least. Among those who had daily sleep deprivation, the ones who got the most compensatory sleep had a 20 percent lower risk of developing heart disease than those with the least.

"Sufficient compensatory sleep is linked to a lower risk of heart disease," study co-author Yanjun Song said in a statement. "The association becomes even more pronounced among individuals who regularly experience inadequate sleep on weekdays."

Co-author Zechen Liu went on to explain the benefits of sleeping in on weekends if you've been struggling to stay awake during the week.

"Our results show that for the significant proportion of the population in modern society that suffers from sleep deprivation , those who have the most 'catch-up' sleep at weekends have significantly lower rates of heart disease than those with the least."

For your heart's sake, sleep in a little bit this weekend.