The negative (负面的) health effects of sleep shortages during the week can't be changed by marathon weekend sleep sessions, according to a new study.
Researchers have long known that routine sleep deprivation (缺乏) can cause weight gain and increase other health risks, including diabetes. But there are still some people who hope that shutting off the alarm on Saturday and Sunday will repay the weekly sleep debt and remove any ill effects.
The research, published in Current Biology, ruins those hopes. Despite complete freedom to sleep in and nap during a weekend recovery period, participants in a sleep laboratory who were limited to five hours of sleep on weekdays gained nearly three pounds over two weeks and experienced metabolic disruption (代谢紊乱) that would increase their risk for diabetes over the long term. While weekend recovery sleep had some benefits after a single week of inadequate sleep, those gains were wiped out when people returned right to their same sleep schedule the next Monday.
"If there are benefits of catch-up sleep, they're gone when you go back to your routine. It's very short-lived," said Kenneth Wright, who led the research. "These health effects are long-term. It's kind of like smoking once was — people would smoke and wouldn't see an immediate effect on their health, but people will say now that smoking is not a healthy lifestyle choice. I think sleep is in the early stage of where smoking used to be."
Wright said that the study suggests people should prioritize sleep — cutting out the optional "sleep stealers" such as watching television shows or spending time on electronic equipment. Even when people don't have a choice about losing sleep due to child-care responsibilities or job schedules, they should think about prioritizing sleep in the same way they would think about a healthy diet or exercise.
