WEBVTT - BrainStuff Classics: Can You Really Catch Up on Sleep?

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<v Speaker 1>Welcome to brain Stuff production of I Heart Radio. Hey

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<v Speaker 1>brain Stuff, Lauren bog Obam here with a classic episode

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<v Speaker 1>from the brain Stuff archives. This one was certainly a

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<v Speaker 1>relief to me. It's about a study that revealed that,

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<v Speaker 1>although good sleep is always important, you can indeed catch

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<v Speaker 1>up on sleep by sleeping in on your days off.

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<v Speaker 1>I'll let previous Lauren explain. Hey brain Stuff, Lauren bog

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<v Speaker 1>Obam here, good news for people who use their days

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<v Speaker 1>off as they are intended to rest up after a

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<v Speaker 1>busy week. It turns out those compensatory z s are

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<v Speaker 1>far more beneficial than previously thought, according to a Swedish

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<v Speaker 1>study published in in April issue of the Journal of

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<v Speaker 1>Sleep Research. The study looked at more than forty three

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<v Speaker 1>thousand people who participated in the Swedish National March cohort,

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<v Speaker 1>which began follow up for every subject continued until they died,

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<v Speaker 1>moved away, or to number when the study officially closed.

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<v Speaker 1>The researchers for the sleep study pulled relevant data from

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<v Speaker 1>the cohort questionnaire about basic sleep habits like how many

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<v Speaker 1>hours approximately participants sleep on a workday night, as well

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<v Speaker 1>as how many hours they snooze per night on days

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<v Speaker 1>off of work response increments ranged from less than five

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<v Speaker 1>hours to greater than nine hours. Previous studies have shown

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<v Speaker 1>that people who consistently sleep too little short sleep is

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<v Speaker 1>defined as five hours or less a night, or too

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<v Speaker 1>much long sleep is nine or more hours per night,

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<v Speaker 1>have higher mortality rates than people who fall into the

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<v Speaker 1>Goldilocks zone in between getting just the right amount of

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<v Speaker 1>sleep every night. However, the authors of the study point

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<v Speaker 1>out that few, if any, of those studies have asked

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<v Speaker 1>participants to differentiate between week day and weekend sleep, which

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<v Speaker 1>makes a big difference, they wrote, in the current study,

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<v Speaker 1>because there are five week days and two weekend days,

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<v Speaker 1>it is likely that self reports of typical sleep duration

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<v Speaker 1>more strongly reflect weekday sleep. Thus, it is of interest

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<v Speaker 1>to investigate the relationship between weekend sleep duration and mortality,

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<v Speaker 1>as well as the different patterns of sleep duration between

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<v Speaker 1>week day and weekend sleep. When the researchers looked at

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<v Speaker 1>all of the data, findings were consistent with previous conclusions

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<v Speaker 1>of increased mortality if both week day and weekend sleep

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<v Speaker 1>are short or when both are long. However, they wrote,

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<v Speaker 1>when weekend sleep is extended after short weekday sleep, no

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<v Speaker 1>association with mortality is seen. We suggest that this may

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<v Speaker 1>reflect positive effects of compensatory sleep. Experts have long advised

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<v Speaker 1>people to get up at the same time each day,

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<v Speaker 1>even on weekends, as a long term strategy for getting

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<v Speaker 1>better sleep each night. The theory is that yo yoing

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<v Speaker 1>sleep habits disturb your circadian rhythms. Dr David Ding's was

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<v Speaker 1>not involved in this sleep study, but he's the chief

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<v Speaker 1>of the Division of Sleep and Chronobiology at the University

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<v Speaker 1>of Pennsylvania Pearlman School of Medicine. He told Time Magazine,

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<v Speaker 1>the real question is whether there is in fact a

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<v Speaker 1>build up of deficit or biological changes that are gradual

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<v Speaker 1>over time, even though you get recovery sleep. So while

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<v Speaker 1>this study is great news for those of us who

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<v Speaker 1>like to sleep in on days off, many sleep experts

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<v Speaker 1>say more studies need to be done on this subject.

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<v Speaker 1>Today's episode is based on the article Yes you can

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<v Speaker 1>catch up on your sleep exclamation point on how stuff

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<v Speaker 1>Works dot Com, written by Leah Hoyt. Brain Stuff is

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<v Speaker 1>production of I Heart Radio in partnership with how stuff

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<v Speaker 1>Works dot Com, and it is produced by Tyler Clang.

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<v Speaker 1>Perform more podcasts from my Heart Radio. Visit the I

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