You may have heard the stats long before the virus came to town. Heart disease is killing Americans by the droves. The pandemic may have placed us in a bad situation with a death toll of almost half a million people, but it may still pale compared to how much damage heart issues are giving us year in and year out. To note, every year, roughly 655,000 Americans die of the dreaded heart disease. That’s one death happening every 36 seconds in the USA.
While both men and women are affected by heart diseases, men succumb to it earlier than most. Let’s get the fact straight. So you can get yourself as ready as possible to face such a life-threatening enemy. Just think of the first heart attack, a common manifestation of the illness. On average, men get it at the age of 65; women, on the other hand, tend to have it later at 72. Indeed, that’s a lot of years in between.
As a man, your first line of thinking, knowing all this, is finding ways to lessen your risk of heart diseases. You’re right. It is better to be safe than sorry. While certain lifestyle changes can bring about such a goal closer to home, you’ll find that wanderlust can be just the cure you need to get it going. Here’s why.
A Traveller’s Heart
From the onset, a lot of people associate travel with non-essential. Why go out to the ends of the Earth when there is so much work to do? The rationale is logical. And that’s only because we don’t see travel as necessary. But the heart speaks a different tune.
As featured in LA Times, studies show that travel can indeed heal. It’s the best medicine, researchers say. Hearing that may have your jaws drop. Prepare to be astonished. Here’s what they found out.
Men who forego travel have a 2 % higher risk of death from coronary disease (CVD) or heart attack compared to men who don’t. That can really be a shocker.
What’s more, if you want to maximize the benefits of travel, the best way to do it is with friends and family. That produces the most impact, the study shows.
Alternatively, there are great ways to make travel happen without shelling so much of your precious dollars. A good example is a trip for work that you can enjoy from various countries (e.g., England). This kind of travel allows you to work in a dream destination and stay for longer than usual.
It’s a win-win scenario. Best of all, you hit two birds in one stone. You slowly free your heart of a heavy burden while making sure your wallet stays healthy too.
And Then Some
But the benefits of travel don’t end there and definitely not by a long shot.
Stress relief is another great benefit of travel. The study shows that those who travel experienced an almost immediate benefit of stress relief with a significant 89% drop in stress levels after just a day or two of travel.
And that goes back again to a healthier heart. How? Stress invites a host of behavioural problems. Stressed people tend to smoke, drink and put themselves into a cycle of inactivity. These are known to trigger high blood pressure and increase cholesterol levels: key factors in heart disease.
Even better, travel is an antidote for depression. It’s a vicious cycle. As millions of Americans suffer from the negative effects of depression, medical doctors tend to overprescribe medications to treat mental health. The end result? More and more pills are needed to give the same desired effect.
Not anymore. There are better ways to get out of depression. And travel is on top of that list. Studies showed that people who did vacations twice a year are less prone to depressive states than those who don’t. In short, they get better mental health.
Now, if you’re an aspiring Michelangelo or Leonardo da Vinci, we have good news for you. Travel may be the pill you need to take to get your creative processes to kick in. Small wonder why many of the great artists travel a lot.
Studies show international travel can trigger an artist’s ability to make those deep connections needed to create a work of art. Or start an art form. The key to all the creative appetite to go into high gear is to “mix and mingle” with the locals and engage the local culture. That should not be a problem, as that sure looks fun.