17.05.2024
A 3 WEEK VACATION EXTENDS LIFE, 4 DAYS - MELTS STRESS
Don't think that your otherwise healthy lifestyle will compensate for too much work and lack of recreation. If you haven't already for this year, take a break. A vacation can extend your life.
Trust yourself. These are the words of specialist in aging medicine with professional interests in the effects of stress Prof. Timo Strandberg from the University of Helsinki. He uttered them last year to the participants of the European Society of Cardiology congress, and behind the statement there is a 40-year study. It turns out that vacations not only create memories for years to come, but also add years to our lives.
People who take less than 3 weeks of vacation per year have a 37% greater risk of premature death. And this probability is real, although in everything else the person may live according to a textbook for centenarians.
The study included 1,222 middle-aged men in middle and senior management positions. All had at least one risk factor for cardiovascular disease (smoking, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, elevated triglycerides, blood sugar problem, overweight).
The volunteers were divided into two equal groups: one subjected to planned effects by the researchers - interventional, and second, control. Participants in the intervention group received oral and written advice at 4 months to perform aerobic physical activity, eat a balanced and moderate diet, maintain a healthy weight, and stop smoking.
When health advice was not effective, they also received drugs recommended at the time to lower blood pressure and lipids. The men in the control group received usual health care and were not further counseled by the researchers. The only thing that was common to all was that the data on the duration of work, sleep and vacations were regularly filled in for all participants.
What is happening?
Thanks to the healthy life of the first group, the risk of heart and vascular diseases was reduced by 46% compared to the control group by the end of the study in the first 5-year phase. However, after 15 years there were more deaths in the intervention group. Extending follow-up to 40 years based on death registries, the researchers found that mortality was almost consistently higher in the closely monitored group than in the control group. Behind the paradox is a peculiarity. Despite the fact that the participants in the "healthy" group had a useful lifestyle in general, they spent less time for real rest. Those who took less than 3 weeks of vacation were 37% more likely to not live the average life expectancy of their peers.
"In our study, men with shorter vacations also worked more and slept less in their day-to-day lives - this stressful life may have canceled out the benefits of the good stuff. On the other hand, just keeping up with all the demands of a healthy life may also have added stress. It is important to get this right: our results do not show that health education is harmful. They report that stress reduction is an essential part of programs aimed at reducing the risk of cardiovascular disease. "Lifestyle advice should be judiciously combined with modern drug treatment to prevent cardiovascular events in high-risk people," explains the scientist.
In many countries, the possibility of paid leave of more than 21 days, especially in bulk, is an unthinkable luxury. According to global studies, countries such as France, Italy, Spain, Monaco, Scotland are rather exceptions, where paid long vacation is a legal right and it is considered common to take 1 month off in the summer. At the other extreme is the United States, the only developed economy that does not have guaranteed paid leave for its workers.
Studies on the effect of shorter but more frequent long weekend vacations can have "magical" effects. For example, if you used the days off around Easter to relax, those 4 days off made you more stress-resistant for the whole month.
