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Finding the right work-life balance isn’t easy. For many people, 9 to 5 has stretched to 9 to 7 — or longer. And responsibilities can start much earlier in the day, especially for those with kids to corral in the morning. Burnout is nothing new — it was described back in the 1970s as a work-related state of distress, with symptoms like exhaustion and reduced productivity. Even more alarming, without intervention, it becomes chronic — a way of life. Though burnout stems from work-related pressures, it can affect relationships and every aspect of your life. In extreme cases, you might stop functioning well on any level. To get back in balance, take your needs off the back burner and take steps to care for yourself. If you’ve been neglecting good health habits — like eating well, exercising, and engaging with family and friends — start to carve out more personal time. If you make a plan with a loved one, you’ll both be more likely to keep the date. Re-evaluate your work situation. Resist the impulse to compete with colleagues by taking on more or bigger projects. If your managers expect you to live for work and be there around the clock, try to re-establish boundaries. Determine what’s an acceptable number of work hours to you and advocate for yourself with your boss. If you… read on >

A single session of meditation can lower your anxiety levels, a small new study finds. “Our results show a clear reduction in anxiety in the first hour after the meditation session, and our preliminary results suggest that anxiety was significantly lower one week after the meditation session,” said study author John Durocher. He is an assistant professor of physiology at Michigan Technological University’s department of biological sciences. Anxiety can raise the risk for heart disease: Previous studies have shown that arterial stiffness may be worsened by traumatic life events, job strain, depression and either short-term or chronic anxiety, the researchers said. Heart changes linked with anxiety can lead to high blood pressure and organ damage. For the study, Durocher and his colleagues recruited 14 participants with normal blood pressure but high levels of anxiety. The investigators evaluated the volunteers’ heart rate, blood pressure, aortic blood pressure and arterial stiffness before and after a 60-minute guided beginner mindfulness meditation session. This type of meditation focuses on breathing and awareness of one’s thoughts. “This study is different because we examined the effect of a single mindfulness meditation session on anxiety and cardiovascular outcomes, while other studies have examined the effect of several days or weeks of mindfulness meditation,” Durocher explained. The study was to be presented Monday at the American Physiological Society annual meeting, in San Diego.… read on >

Fitness buffs who push themselves to the limit during workouts might slightly increase their risk of developing amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), a new study suggests. The same may hold true for working stiffs whose jobs place extreme physical demands upon them, the European researchers said. But the study did not prove that extreme exercise actually causes ALS risk to rise. And it should be noted that ALS remains incredibly rare, afflicting only about 20,000 Americans at any given time, according to the ALS Association. Even with the relative increased risk seen in the study, people should continue getting regular workouts and not worry about working hard, experts said. “If you adopt a sedentary lifestyle, you’re going to die much faster of heart disease than you will of ALS if you go out and exercise vigorously,” said David Putrino, director of rehabilitation innovation at the Mount Sinai Health System in New York City. “Under no circumstances should anyone stop exercising because of this study.” The study authors said that at work or play, the observed increased risk for what is also known as Lou Gehrig’s disease “can be translated into a 26 percent increase in risk, when comparing a person who is more active than average and a person who is less active than average.” There’s also a dose relationship — the harder a person works… read on >

Men under 50 who smoke cigarettes are increasing their risk for a stroke, researchers warn. And the more they smoke, the greater their stroke risk, reported the University of Maryland investigators. The bottom line: quit. But if you can’t, smoking fewer cigarettes may help reduce your risk, the researchers said. “We found that men who smoked were 88 percent more likely to have a stroke than men who never smoked,” said lead researcher Janina Markidan, a university medical student. At the lower end, men who currently smoked fewer than 11 cigarettes daily were 46 percent more likely to have a stroke than those who never smoked, she said. But heavier smokers — those with a two-pack-a-day or greater habit — were nearly five times more likely to have a stroke than those who never smoked, Markidan said. These findings are particularly important because ischemic strokes among younger adults are increasing. And tobacco use among young adults is also on the rise, she said. Markidan’s team’s prior research identified a strong link between smoking and stroke in young women, but less was known about the relationship in younger men, the researchers said in background notes. Ischemic strokes — the most common kind — occur when blood supply to the brain is blocked. Stroke is the leading preventable cause of disability, according to the American Stroke Association.… read on >

Women are more likely than men to suffer a knee injury called an anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) tear. But — surprisingly — the injury occurs the same way in both genders, a new study reveals. Prior research suggested women are two to four times more likely to suffer ACL tears due to differences in how this type of injury occurs in the sexes, researchers at Duke University, in Durham, N.C., noted. But that theory is wrong, according to the results of a new study of 15 women and 15 men with torn ACLs. Those prior studies were based on slow-motion replays of injuries, while the new work relied on scans and other advanced techniques. “Based on watching videos of athlete injuries, previous researchers have suggested that females may have a different mechanism of injury than males. But it’s difficult to determine the precise position of the knee and the time of injury through footage,” said study leader and biomedical engineer Louis DeFrate. “We used MRI scans taken within a month of the ACL rupture and identified bruises on the surface of the two large bones that collide when the ACL tears — the femur and the tibia — then used 3-D modeling and computer algorithms to reconstruct the position of the knee when the injury occurred,” he explained in a Duke news release. “Our results… read on >

Your parents’ advice to eat your vegetables has solid science behind it. Filling half your plate with non-starchy selections, as well as some fruit, provides a high volume of low-calorie food that can tame hunger as it delivers important nutrients. A study done at Cleveland’s Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine provides more good news — the higher the ratio of vegetables and fruits to other foods you eat, the better you’re able to ward off heart disease and metabolic disease, a risk factor for diabetes. To get the widest range of nutrients, experts say to pick a rainbow — a mix of vegetables and fruits in every color. If you have to narrow down choices, put dark green and yellow-orange vegetables at the top of the list. That means choices like sweet potatoes, carrots and squash along with leafy greens, broccoli and Brussels sprouts. Citrus fruits and various berries are great fruit choices. If you’re on a tight budget, look for veggies that deliver the most nutrients dollar-for-dollar, according to a report in the Journal of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics. Based on data from the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the researchers identified the most nutrient-dense vegetables, offering essentials like fiber; vitamins A, C and E; and the minerals calcium, iron, magnesium and potassium. The results showed that tomato juices and tomato… read on >

For most, playing online video games is largely a harmless hobby. But a new review finds that some fall prey to what experts call “internet gaming disorder.” The concept that gaming could become an addiction first gained traction in 2013 when the disorder was included in the “Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders” (DSM). At the time, the disorder was only listed as a “condition for further study.” Now, a broad review of prior research has done just that. The new review looks back at more than 40 investigations conducted worldwide between 1991 and 2016. It concludes that — like other types of addiction — internet gaming disorder is a complex condition that arises when fun morphs into a loss of control, turning into an obsession. “Excessive gaming may lead to avoiding negative moods and neglecting ‘normal’ relationships, school or work-related duties, and even basic physical needs,” review author Frank Paulus said in a statement. Paulus is the head psychologist in the department of child and adolescent psychiatry at Saarland University Hospital in Homburg, Germany. Still, the investigators stressed that internet gaming addiction remains the exception among players rather than the rule. They note that “for most individuals, computer gaming is an enjoyable and stimulating activity.” The reviewers also point out that the way in which the disorder is defined varies widely among studies… read on >

If you have asthma, it may help to reduce your exposure to allergens. Previous research has shown that roughly two-thirds of all people with asthma also have an allergy, allergy experts say. “What many people don’t realize is that the same things that trigger your seasonal hay fever symptoms — things like pollen, dust mites, mold and pet dander — can also cause asthma symptoms,” said Dr. Bradley Chipps, president of the American College of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology (ACAAI). “If you have allergies, and you are wheezing or coughing, see an allergist to find out if you also have asthma,” he advised in an ACAAI news release. “Allergists are also specialists at treating asthma and can put together a treatment plan to help you deal with both allergies and asthma,” Chipps added. Allergic asthma — where allergies trigger asthma symptoms — is the most common type of asthma. As many as 80 percent of children with allergies also have asthma. Also, 75 percent of asthma sufferers aged 20 to 40, and 65 percent of those with asthma aged 55 and older, have one allergy or more. “Effective treatment of allergic asthma includes identifying and avoiding allergens that trigger symptoms. After diagnosing asthma, we usually move on to using drug therapies and developing an emergency action plan to deal with severe attacks,” Chipps said. “If… read on >

(HealthDay News) — Electrolytes are naturally occurring minerals that contain an electric charge. They are found in your blood, urine, other bodily fluids and tissues. Examples contained in certain foods and beverages include: sodium, calcium, potassium, chorine, phosphate and magnesium. Electrolytes influence your body’s water balance. The U.S. National Library of Medicine says electrolytes also are important because they help: Balance your body’s acid/base (pH) level. Move nutrients into your cells. Move waste from your cells. Ensure that your nerves, muscles, heart and brain work properly.

New research sheds light on why some people’s blood pressure is especially sensitive to salt. The research team previously discovered that a natural gene variation that occurs in 48 percent of people increases a person’s chances of having blood pressure that’s sensitive to salt. Their new study revealed how this gene variant prevents the body from eliminating excess salt. The gene variant causes a sodium (salt) transporter called NBCe2 to overwork, bringing too much sodium filtered in the kidney back into the body, particularly after a high-salt meal. That means that consuming too much salt could be especially dangerous for people with this gene variant. Blood pressure that’s sensitive to salt can be difficult to diagnose and treat, according to the researchers, because about 14 percent of people can have normal blood pressure and still be salt-sensitive. About three out of 10 people are sensitive to salt and their inability to eliminate excess salt puts them at increased risk of heart attack, stroke, kidney failure and blindness, according to study senior author Robin Felder, from the department of pathology at the University of Virginia School of Medicine, and colleagues. “It’s important for the body to get rid of excess sodium because having too much sodium in the body causes the body to retain water, which can raise blood pressure and significantly shorten one’s lifespan,” Felder… read on >

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All Sauce from Weekly Gravy:

Stop Burnout in Its Tracks

Meditation Can Soothe the Anxious Soul in Just One Session

Extreme Exercisers May Have Higher Odds for ALS

As Younger Men’s Smoking Rises, So Does Their Stroke Risk

His and Her Knee Injuries Occur the Same Way

Keep Eating Veggies (and Fruits) for Better Health

When Does Online Gaming Become an Addiction?

Got Asthma? Avoid Allergens

Health Tip: Understanding Electrolytes

Gene Twist Can Make Your Blood Pressure Spike From Salt