Posted by: Editor on Jun 10, 2008 – 01:15 PM
mindandbody  With the cost of gas rising and the economy falling it might not seem like the time to take a vacation, especially when many people are relieved to even have jobs. But it is during this stressful time that a vacation is the most needed and the most useful to our well being.

Americans are taking less vacation time, even before the downward trend of the economy. In fact, Expedia performed a global study and reported that about one third of Americans do not take the full vacation time they are entitled to, with an average of three vacation days being lost.

In Britain, about a quarter of workers do not take all their vacation allotment and in France, it’s a little less.

Vacations are proving to be more than just an extravagant luxury, they are necessary for good health.

Researchers using the Framingham Heart Study, started in 1948, looked at questionnaires that women had filled out over two decades. Women who took a vacation once every six years or less were at a much higher risk to develop coronary heart disease or have a heart attack by almost eight times than those who vacationed at least twice a year.

Read the full article here:
Vacations Are Good for You, Medically Speaking
By ALINA TUGEND
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/07/business/yourmoney/07shortcuts/?_r=1&ref=yourmoney&oref=slogin