Do Holidays Prolong Life?

For most people going on holiday is all about rest, relaxation and unplugging from daily life. Now, a Finnish study of middle-aged male executives is suggesting that beyond R&R, holidays could genuinely prolong life.

Carried out over a 40-year period, the study surveyed 1,222 middle-aged male executives, each with at least one risk factor associated with cardiovascular disease. This included smoking habits, high cholesterol, high blood pressure, glucose intolerance, obesity and elevated triglycerides. Participants were split up into a control group and an intervention group, with the latter advised to engage in aerobic physical activity, adopt a healthy diet and quit harmful habits like smoking and overeating. Some were also issued with drugs to lower blood pressure and lipids.

Holidays offer life-saving stress relief

While the risk of cardiovascular disease dropped by 46% in the intervention group after a five-year period, a 15-year follow-up indicated less deaths occurred in the control group. In 2014 researchers extended the follow-up to a 40-year period and found that shorter holidays were linked to a higher mortality rate. Specifically, they noted a 37% greater chance of dying for men in the intervention group who took less than three weeks of annual holiday. In comparison, holidays had no impact on the risk of death for men in the control group. The findings were presented at ESC Congress and will be published in The Journal of Nutrition, Health & Aging.

"The harm caused by the intensive lifestyle regime was concentrated in a subgroup of men with shorter yearly vacation time," comments Professor Strandberg. "In our study, men with shorter vacations worked more and slept less than those who took longer vacations. This stressful lifestyle may have overruled any benefit of the intervention. We think the intervention itself may also have had an adverse psychological effect on these men by adding stress to their lives."

Combating cardiovascular disease with stress management

He also explains that while stress management was not considered a preventive medication in the 1970s, today it's widely accepted as an important tool. As such, holidays could be viewed as a form of medication.

"Our results do not indicate that health education is harmful. Rather, they suggest that stress reduction is an essential part of programmes aimed at reducing the risk of cardiovascular disease. Lifestyle advice should be wisely combined with modern drug treatment to prevent cardiovascular events in high-risk individuals."

Beyond a healthy lifestyle, proactive OH&S standards play an important role in prolonging life in the workplace. For a closer look at the technologies being used to enhance safety in public and private sector organisations don't miss 'Characterising Unknowns: Behind the Scenes of Chemical Investigation'.