News

Poor sleep habits can harm your health and may even shorten your lifespan. One habit worth breaking is catching up on lost sleep by sleeping for long hours on the weekend. While you may feel refreshed after sleeping in, it may not be as beneficial for your health as you think.

◇ Weekday Sleep Loss Can Lead to “Sleep Debt”

Sleep debt refers to the gap between the amount of sleep your body needs and the amount you actually get. For example, if someone who needs eight hours of sleep gets only six hours on Sunday night, they begin Monday with two hours of sleep debt. If the same pattern continues throughout the week, that sleep debt can accumulate to 10 hours by Saturday.

While we sleep, the body clears waste products that build up in the brain and helps tired muscles recover and regenerate. Sleep also supports the immune system.

Dr. Ulysses Magalang, a sleep medicine specialist at Ohio State University, said that accumulating sleep debt can lead to fatigue, poor concentration, difficulty maintaining attention, irritability, and memory problems. Long-term sleep deprivation has also been linked to a weakened immune system, high blood pressure, heart disease, stroke, increased inflammation, impaired cognitive function, and insulin resistance.

According to a study published in the international journal Sleep, an analysis of 1.38 million people found that those who slept less than seven hours a day had a 12% higher risk of death from any cause compared with those who slept seven hours or more. Another study from the American Heart Association found that for every one-hour reduction below seven hours of sleep, the risk of death from any cause increased by approximately 6%.

Simply sleeping longer on weekends cannot completely erase sleep debt. Researchers at Penn State College of Medicine restricted participants to six hours of sleep per day and then allowed them 10 hours of recovery sleep. Although markers of inflammation returned to normal, attention and concentration, which had declined during the period of sleep deprivation, did not fully recover.

Another study published in Sleep found that people who slept only five hours on weekdays and eight hours on weekends for six weeks experienced declines in their ability to process information from their surroundings and understand spatial relationships. Even recovery sleep on weekends did not significantly restore these abilities.

◇ Aim for 7–9 Hours of Sleep and Keep Naps Under 30 Minutes

Adults should aim for seven to nine hours of sleep each night. It is also best to maintain a consistent sleep schedule, even on weekends.

Our bodies have an internal biological clock that regulates hormones, body temperature, heart rate, blood pressure, appetite, and blood sugar. Frequently changing your bedtime and wake-up time can disrupt the sleep-wake cycle and throw off your circadian rhythm.

Dr. Nancy Foldvary-Schaefer, a sleep medicine specialist at Cleveland Clinic, recommends going to bed 30 minutes to an hour earlier each night when trying to return to a normal sleep schedule. She also recommends keeping naps to 30 minutes or less and taking them before 3 p.m.

Repeating the same routine before bed—such as listening to the same music every night or reading a book for 20 minutes before getting into bed—can help your body recognize these activities as signals that it is time to sleep, making it easier to fall asleep.

It is also best to avoid using smartphones, laptops, TVs, and gaming devices for at least 30 minutes before bedtime.

Source: 헬스조선 (https://health.chosun.com/site/data/html_dir/2026/08/10/2026081002133.html)