Do You Sleep In On the Weekends? You May Be Putting Your Health At Risk.

   By SheSpeaksTeam  Nov 24, 2015

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With a long holiday weekend upon us, you may be psyching yourself up for a couple of late nights followed by lazy mornings sleeping in. Unfortunately, sleeping late on the weekends may not be the best thing for your health. Some new research shows a link between this weekly shift in sleeping schedules and increased risk of heart disease and diabetes.

USA Today reports about the study from the Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism that suggests increased health risk for those who change their schedules on the weekend by going to bed later and waking later. If this sounds like you, you’re not alone by a long shot. Of the nearly 450 participants in the study, 85% tended to follow this pattern of sleeping later on days off.

Researchers found that those who had the most dramatic schedule differences were most likely to have highest cholesterol, BMI and waist circumference. The study explains, “Our findings suggest that a misalignment of sleep timing is associated with metabolic risk factors that predispose to diabetes and ... cardiovascular disease.”

Though more research needs to be done to clarify the risks of keeping this type of schedule, researchers think it may be time to change our ways. One of the study’s authors writes, “If future studies replicate what we found here, then we may need to consider as a society how modern work and social obligations are affecting our sleep and health.”

What do you think of the new study that suggests sleeping in on the weekends can put your health at risk?

Do you tend to keep a different schedule on the weekends?