Vacations have been found to provide a number of benefits to human health. Middle-aged men at risk for coronary heart disease who take annual vacations are 32 percent less likely to die from that disease, according to the journal Psychosomatic Medicine.
On the other hand, according to the American Journal of Epidemiology, homemakers who rarely take a holiday have almost twice the risk of developing heart problems and suffering coronary death than do homemakers who take two or more vacations each year.
In the book Go Away: Just For the Health of It, Dr. Mel Borins states that blood pressure, heart rate and levels of epinephrine, a stress hormone, decline even on short vacations of one or two days.
Travelers rate their overall health higher (on a scale of one to five) while on vacation, according to the Ypartnership National Travel Leisure Monitor. The Journal of Travel Medicine explains why. Holidays provide a chance to exercise, have free personal time, get more sleep and meet new people.
