Weekend partying is not just leading to dusty Mondays. It has spawned a new sleeping disorder.
Researchers from Adelaide’s Flinders University found late nights, alcohol, and smoking could be triggering a newly identified sleep health concern known as “social apnea”.
Study lead author Dr Lucia Pinilla said the research, which analysed data from over 70,000 people worldwide, found a consistent and significant increase in Obstructive Sleep Apnea (OSA) severity on weekends.
Dr Pinilla said lifestyle choices and irregular sleep patterns drove the increased severity of OSA, leading researchers to coin a new term to describe the phenomenon.
“Sleep apnea is already a major public health issue, but our findings suggest its true impact may be underestimated,” she said.
“Most clinical diagnostic testing is done on a single night, typically a weeknight, missing the weekend effect we’re now calling social apnea.”
Dr Pinilla said this weekend surge in sleep-disordered breathing may heighten the risk of serious health conditions including heart disease, depression, dementia, and extreme fatigue and motor vehicle and other accidents.
She said the study found that participants were 18 percent more likely to have moderate to severe OSA on weekends (Saturdays) when compared to mid-week (Wednesdays).
“Changes in sleep schedules, such as staying up late on weekends or sleeping in, worsened sleep apnea.”
Dr Pinilla said sleeping an extra 45 minutes or more on weekends increased the risk of worse sleep apnea by 47 percent, with men 21 percent more likely to be affected, compared to a nine percent increase in women.
She said younger adults (under 60) had a 24 percent higher risk on weekends, compared to seven percent in those aged 60 and above.
Read the full study: “Social Apnea”: Obstructive Sleep Apnea is Exacerbated on Weekends.
