Extra weekend rest may make up for short weekday sleep

So much for you snooze, you lose.

weekend sleepResearchers from Stockholm University’s Stress Research Institute in Sweden have found that getting extra sleep on the weekend may counteract not getting enough sleep during the work week.

In a study published May 22 in the Journal of Sleep Research, researchers looked at the sleep patterns of 43,000 adults over the course of 13 years. During that time, 3,234 people in the study died.

Those under the age of 65 who were short sleepers during the week—sleeping five hours or less a night—but slept eight hours or more on the weekend lived just as long as those who consistently slept for six or seven hours a night. Those who were short sleepers all the time didn’t live as long as others who slept more.

“The results imply that short (weekday) sleep is not a risk factor for mortality if it is combined with medium or long weekend sleep,” researchers wrote. “This suggests that short weekday sleep may be compensated for during the weekend, and that this has implications for mortality.”

The researchers also found that those who slept eight hours or more a day lived longer than those who slept six or seven hours a night.

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