New Delhi:
Our busy routine has taken a toll on our sleeping hours and this makes us sleep more on weekends. But sleeping more on weekends increases the probability of developing ‘social jet lag’, which is related with the risk of heart disease, according to researchers.
Social jet lag is when one goes to bed and wakes up much later on weekends than during the weekdays. And according to findings each hour of social jet lag is related to 11 per cent increase in the likelihood of heart disease.
Poorer health, increased sleepiness, fatigue are also the results of social jet lag.
"These results indicate that sleep regularity, beyond sleep duration alone, plays a significant role in our health," said lead author Sierra B. Forbush, research assistant from the University of Arizona in the US.
"This suggests that a regular sleep schedule may be an effective, relatively simple, and inexpensive preventative treatment for heart disease as well as many other health problems," Forbush added.
The American Academy of Sleep Medicine suggests that adults should sleep seven or more hours per night regularly for a good health.
For the study, a survey was done by the team in which responses from 984 adults between the age of 22 and 60 years were analysed.
Sleep timing questionnaire was used to assess social jet lag and in order to calculate It weekday was subtracted from weeksend sleep midpoint.
Overall health was self-reported using a standardised scale, and sleep duration, insomnia, cardiovascular disease, sleepiness were assessed by the survey questions.
