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College State, Pennsylvania. — A new study finds that sleep deprivation on weekdays does not return heart rate and blood pressure levels to normal when you regain sleep on the weekends.
Researchers at Pennsylvania State University shared the findings Tuesday in the journal Psychosomatic Medicine.
Researchers say that restricting sleep to five hours each night during the week worsens cardiovascular health, including heart rate and blood pressure.
“Only 65% of adults in the United States regularly get the recommended seven hours of sleep each night, and there are many studies suggesting that this lack of sleep is linked to cardiovascular disease in the long term. There is evidence,” says co-author Ann-Marie Chan. An associate professor of biobehavioral health at Pennsylvania State University said in a news release on Tuesday.
Researchers studied the sleep habits of 15 healthy men between the ages of 20 and 35 over an 11-day period. For his first three nights, participants were able to sleep up to 10 hours each night to reach baseline sleep levels.
For the next five days, participants’ sleep was restricted to 5 hours per night, followed by two recovery nights, and again allowed up to 10 hours per night.
To measure the effects of sleep recovery on cardiovascular health, the researchers recorded the participants’ resting heart rate and blood pressure every two hours during the day.
According to this study, participants’ heart rates increased by nearly one beat per minute (BPM) as the study continued each day. The average baseline heart rate was 69 BPM, while the average baseline heart rate on recovery day 2 was closer to 78 beats per minute.
Systolic blood pressure increased by about 0.5 millimeters of mercury (mmHg) per day, according to the researchers. Mean baseline systolic blood pressure was 116 mmHg and was approximately 119.5 mmHg at the end of the recovery period.
The researchers measured participants’ heart rates and blood pressure multiple times during the study, and also considered how time of day might affect cardiovascular health. Studies have shown that heart rate is naturally lower when you wake up than during the day, and that continuous measurement could explain this difference.
“Heart rate and systolic blood pressure increased over the course of the day and did not return to baseline levels by the end of the recovery period,” said lead author David Reichenberger.
“Thus, by the end of the study weekend, their cardiovascular systems had not yet recovered, even though there was an opportunity for additional rest,” Reichenberger added.
Longer periods of sleep recovery may be required to recover from days of sleep deprivation, says Dr. Chan.
“Sleep is a biological process, but it’s also a behavioral process that we can often control,” Chan says. “Sleep not only impacts cardiovascular health, but it impacts many things, including weight, mental health, ability to focus and ability to maintain healthy relationships with others.”
