Study Links Weekend Lie-Ins to Lower Blood Pressure

The results complicate long-standing guidance. Sleep specialists have generally urged people to keep a fixed bedtime and waking time, warning that irregular schedules disturb the body's internal clock. Earlier work has linked social jet lag to poorer diet quality, and research cited by the New York Post found irregular sleepers were 26% more likely to suffer a stroke, heart failure or heart attack. Dr Nawon Lee, who led the study, offered a physiological explanation: too little sleep keeps the heart and blood vessels working harder, and recovery sleep may relieve some of that strain. Blood pressure normally falls by roughly a tenth overnight, a process known as nocturnal dipping, which chronic sleep loss blunts. The benefit was not unlimited. Participants who added more than four hours showed a heightened risk of hypertension, which Lee attributed to circadian disruption outweighing the gains.

More than 1.3 billion people worldwide live with hypertension, which raises the likelihood of heart attack, stroke, kidney disease and early death. Lee said the message for the sleep-deprived was reassuring: nobody should feel lazy or guilty for resting longer on their days off, because the extra sleep may simply be the body recovering. Dr Sonya Babu-Narayan, a cardiologist at the British Heart Foundation who was not involved in the work, welcomed the finding but cautioned that it was not a green light for physical activity to take a back seat. Exercise, a healthy weight and a good diet remain central to controlling blood pressure.