5 Ways That Commuting Ages You

The long commute has become a staple of the American work experience: The average round-trip commute is close to an hour and at least 10 percent of the workforce spends more than an hour getting to work. In all likelihood, if you're employed, you knew that; heck, you live that. What you might not have known though is how much commuting ages you -- whether it's done by private automobile or public transit. Here are a few ways commuting may be shaving years off your life: 1. It's stressful. A 2014 report from the U.K.’s Office of National Statistics found that people with commutes of more than 30 minutes each way had higher anxiety and stress levels than those with shorter commutes. There's heavy traffic, the truck in the right lane won't let you merge and your exit's coming up; the train is late and you will miss your morning meeting; the subway is jam-packed as always and, the creepy guy keeps creeping closer in your direction. Those situations are all stressors -- and we know that stress kills. Another study, this one partially funded by Hewlett Packard, compared the heart rate and blood pressure of commuters to those of fighter pilots and policemen in training exercises. Commuters topped them in the not-so-good way. The researcher conducting the study was quoted by the BBC as saying that commuters' stress comes from their inability to control their situation. Dr. David Lewis said, "A riot policeman or a combat pilot have things they can do to combat the stress tha...
Source: Healthy Living - The Huffington Post - Category: Consumer Health News Source Type: news