Cardiovascular disease/ What should you do this weekend to reduce your risk by 20%?

2024-08-30 21:30:00, Shëndeti CNA

Cardiovascular disease/ What should you do this weekend to reduce your risk by

Illustrative photo

With modern lifestyles full of stress and demands, sleep deprivation has become a common problem.

However, new research presented at the European Society of Cardiology 2024 (ESC 2024) conference offers a simple but important message: getting more sleep at weekends to make up for lost sleep can reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease by 20%. .

The importance of sleep for cardiovascular health

Experts agree that adequate and quality sleep is essential for heart health. Lack of sleep can lead to increased levels of stress, inflammation and blood pressure, factors that burden the cardiovascular system. These effects result in an increased risk of developing serious conditions such as coronary heart disease (ischemic heart disease), heart failure and stroke.

However, lack of sleep is almost inevitable for many people, due to the obligations and stressful schedules of everyday life. Most people try to make up for lost sleep on the weekends, but until recently, there wasn't enough evidence that this practice had any real benefits for the heart.

The new research, led by Yanjun Song and Zechen Liu from the National Cardiovascular Center in Beijing, came to fill this knowledge gap. The researchers used data from 90,903 participants from the UK Biobank health database, which tracks the health and lifestyle of people in Britain over many years.

Participants wore devices that recorded the hours and quality of their sleep, and this data was analyzed to find the link between weekend sleep and cardiovascular health.

The participants were divided into four groups, depending on the amount of sleep they got at the weekend. In the group with the most restorative sleep, the risk of cardiovascular disease was 19% lower than in the group with the least restorative sleep.

For those who were sleep deprived every day, the risk was reduced by 20%.

The weekend as an opportunity to catch up on sleep

Mr. Yanjun Song, one of the leaders of the research, explained that getting enough sleep on weekends can significantly contribute to reducing the risk of cardiovascular diseases. "Our results show that for a significant portion of the sleep-deprived population, fulfilling the sleep cycle on weekends provides a simple but effective strategy for heart protection," he noted.

So it pays to prioritize sleep, even if it means waking up a little later these days. Your heart will thank you!/ CNA