The hidden dangers of your weekend lie-in

The luxury of sleeping late on your days off could be doing long-term damage to your health. Photo / Getty

Could your lazy Sunday morning be harming your heart on Monday morning? For those of us who enjoy a relaxing weekend lie-in, this might sound counter-intuitive, but emerging evidence suggests that sleeping in late could put you at greater risk of a heart attack – especially as you get older.

According to new data presented at the British Cardiovascular Society conference in Manchester, rates of deadly heart attacks are more than 13 per cent higher on the first day of the week. Scientists suspect this is because the body’s natural circadian rhythms are disrupted over the weekend as we stay up late and switch off our alarms. When this comes to an abrupt end on Monday morning, it triggers surges in inflammation and stress hormones such as cortisol, which put greater stress on the heart.

“When your body clock is thrown out of sync, it’s bad for your health,” says Matthew Pase, a sleep scientist at Monash University. “As an example, when we lose and gain an hour in the spring and autumn due to daylight savings, it’s just an hour, but even that is associated with spikes in hospital admissions.”

This follows from recent research, which came to a similar conclusion. In May, scientists at Monash University in Australia studied the sleeping habits of almost 90,000 people aged between 40 and 69. They found that having a regular sleeping pattern is just as important as getting a sufficient number of hours of sleep.

People with irregular sleep patterns - such as shift workers, or those who varied their bedtimes - were 53 per cent more likely to die from any cause over the following seven years, compared to those who kept to a regular pattern.

Experts say that this is because the body requires a regular sleeping routine to be able to carry out all its vital repair tasks during the nighttime hours. “Sleep is a bit like nature’s medicine,” says Colin Espie, professor of sleep medicine at the University of Oxford. “It’s a daily treatment that evolution has determined that we need, so when you don’t get it in regular patterns, your body doesn’t function as well.”

So while it might feel painful to drag yourself out of bed before 8am on a Saturday or Sunday, your body will thank you in the long run. Here are a few reasons why you should do it.

To protect your heart

In 2020, the US National Institutes of Health published a study in which they followed older adults for five years: those with the most irregular sleep schedules were nearly twice as likely to develop heart disease as those with more regular sleep patterns.

According to Brooke Aggarwal, a behavioural scientist at Columbia University, this is because variations in sleeping patterns elevate your blood pressure and can drive inflammation in the tiny layers of cells known as endothelial cells, which line all blood vessels and control exchanges that take place between the bloodstream and surrounding tissues. These factors can both significantly contribute to the development of cardiovascular disease.

“Even going to sleep or waking up 60 minutes off your usual schedule from day to day could potentially impact the heart over time,” she says.

Having a regular sleeping pattern is just as important as getting a sufficient number of hours of sleep. Photo / 123RF

To reduce your risk of cancer

Subtle misalignments in the body’s natural 24-hour sleep-wake patterns can drive mutations that could contribute to the onset of cancer. In this latest study conducted by Monash University, people with irregular sleep patterns were 36 per cent more likely to die from any form of cancer within seven years.

This is thought to be because our body clocks play a critical role in the process of cell division and when they are thrown out of sync, it can trigger the abnormal proliferation of cells, which leads to a tumour.

It boosts your mood and general brain health

We’re all a bit more tetchy and irritable when we’re short of sleep, but this can still be the case when you’ve slept for a full eight hours.

Suddenly being roused at 6am or 7am when you’ve been used to waking a few hours later, can have a significant impact on your mood. “This is because the change affects an area of our brain called the amygdala, which is involved with emotional regulation – when we have an irregular sleep pattern, that dysregulation is heightened,” says Safia Debar, a physician at Mayo Clinic Healthcare in London.

It can also impact how well memories are consolidated at night, and evidence is beginning to suggest that irregular sleep can also contribute to brain atrophy or shrinking that precipitates cognitive decline in later life.

“When we are sleeping well, it prevents shrinkage of certain areas of the brain,” says Debar.

The body requires a regular sleeping routine Photo / 123rf

It keeps you slim

Sleep is heavily linked with hormones. Cortisol, the stress hormone, peaks around half an hour after we wake, a natural way of getting us up and ready for the day. As a general rule, it then gradually declines throughout the day, reaching its trough somewhere between 9pm and 11pm.

But if we fight through this and stay up a few hours longer at the weekend, it causes a surge in cortisol and corresponding rises and crashes of the hormone insulin, leading to midnight snacking.

“If you’re awake late, then you’re more likely to start feeling hungry, and you’re likely not going to be eating broccoli and spinach, you’re going to want something that’s carb-heavy, processed or salty,” says Debar.

Because your natural hormonal cycle has then been disrupted, you’re then likely to feel more sluggish and lacking in energy at the start of the working week when you attempt to resume normal patterns.

“You’re chasing your tail, and then you might feel less motivated to go to the gym and exercise as a result,” says Debar. “Over the course of a week or two, it’s not really a problem, but it has a knock-on effect long-term. Suddenly over a decade, you find you’ve put on three stones.”

It can make for an easier menopause

Following lifestyle measures that keep your hormones as stable as possible is particularly crucial for women going through the menopause, a time when hormonal shifts are already fluctuating wildly.

According to Chris Fox, a sleep researcher and professor at the University of Exeter, trying to keep to a rigorous sleep schedule is particularly important for women during this timeframe, as sleep disruptions are the number one problem they face.

“It’s particularly important to try and keep to normal sleep patterns as far as possible because many women find that once they finish the menopause, sleep problems can continue,” he says. “The flushes and other symptoms go, but the sleep problems remain and that can have a knock-on effect on heart health. So if you can help your body by going to bed at a regular time each night, it may make it easier.”