New research suggests sleeping in on Saturday morning won't make up for not getting enough sleep during the week.
Researchers observed 30 volunteers who were put on sleep schedule that mimicked a "sleep deprived work week," HealthDay reported. The participants then "slept in" for the equivalent of a weekend. The researchers regularly tested the subjects' physical and mental health over the course of the study.
As expected, the participants got more tired when they were sleep deprived and felt better rested after getting to sleep in. Levels of inflammation in the body also went up when the participants were sleep deprived, and back down then they weren't.
The participants ability to pay attention went down when they lost sleep, but did not improve after the "weekend."
"Two nights of extended recovery sleep may not be sufficient to overcome behavioral alertness deficits resulting from mild sleep restriction," the study authors wrote. "This may have important implications for people with safety-critical professions, such as health care workers, as well as transportation system employees (drivers, pilots, etc.)," Alexandros Vgontzas, of the Penn State University College of Medicine, said.
The researchers believe that repeating this cycle every week could have long-term effects that are even more serious.
"The long-term effects of a repeated sleep restriction/sleep recovery weekly cycle in humans remains unknown," the researchers said, HealthDay reported.
The study is called "The Effects of Recovery Sleep After One Workweek of Mild Sleep Restriction on Interleukin-6 and Cortisol Secretion and Daytime Sleepiness and Performance" and appears in the appears in the American Journal of Physiology-Endocrinology and Metabolism.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), adults need between seven and nine hours of sleep every night.
"Insufficient sleep is associated with a number of chronic diseases and conditions-such as diabetes, cardiovascular disease, obesity, and depression-which threaten our nation's health. Not getting enough sleep is associated with the onset of these diseases and also may complicate their management and outcome," the CDC reported.
