According to a recent study, sleeping like a log over the weekends for long hours can make up for the damage done to your body by a lack of sleep during the week.
- The outcome is based on an exhaustive 14-year study done by the State Key Laboratory of Infectious Disease in China.
- As per researchers, those who got the most ‘catch-up’ sleep, had a 20 per cent lower risk of developing heart attacks and strokes than those who remained sleep-deprived.
- Sleep is the time your body rests and repairs itself. A person’s heart rate and blood pressure drop while sleeping as their breathing becomes stable and regular. Besides, the less you sleep, the greater the time when your stress hormone cortisol is active.
- Cortisol is known as the body’s stress hormone because it’s released when you experience stress.
- Excess cortisol can lead to inflammation, release more chemicals that trigger platelet aggregation and blood clotting. This in turn can lead to clot formation in heart vessels.
- It can also affect the production of hormones that help regulate blood sugar levels. This can lead to insulin resistance and other cardiovascular risks.
