Irregular sleeping in linked to premature aging

Your weekend lie-in could be making you age prematurely.

The pressures of work, family and latenight socializing make sticking to a consistent sleep schedule almost impossible for many U.S. adults. And yet, new research from Augusta University in Georgia says that this variability could be linked to accelerated biological aging.

Roughly 1 in 3 American adults reports not getting enough sleep every day, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have estimated. Previous studies have linked sleep deprivation to a range of mental and physical disorders, including heart disease, stroke, obesity and dementia. However, catch-up sleep and sleep irregularity might not be doing our body many favors either.

In the Augusta study, published in the journal Sleep Health, researchers assessed data from 6,052 adults who took part in the U.S. National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey between 2011 and 2014. Sleep parameters such as duration, efficiency and irregularity were assessed, as well as physiological markers of biological aging.

“In this study, we did find longer weekend catch-up sleep is associated with accelerated biological aging,” study author and professor of medicine, pediatrics, and biostatistics at Augusta University, Xiaoling Wang, told Newsweek.

Unfortunately, this is not the first time your weekend lie-in has been shown up by science. Previous studies have associated social jet lag and catch-up sleep with impaired cognitive performance, obesity, diabetes, high blood pressure and mood disorders. The most likely culprit is the disruption of our internal circadian rhythm.

Our bodies are governed by a series of internal clocks that are calibrated by different external and internal factors. The ultimate pacemaker of the body sits in our brains and is reset every morning by light. However, if we experience daylight at different times everyday, our internal body clocks can become out of sync, which can in turn affect how our body functions.

But what if you have young children, work irregular shifts, or just have to get up really early for work?

“From my personal opinion, the modern society-related lifestyle factors such as increased light exposure, nighttime activities and pervasive use of electronic media and mobile devices are actually the major factors contributing to sleep deviation,”

Wang said. “I am hoping our study is a wake-up call to reduce the levels of these unhealthy lifestyle factors.”