Tips for Stress Relief

The best thing to do when fighting stress is to deal with it head on. Even mild stress makes it harder to get in a good workout. To help you balance today's treacherous times — in and out of the workplace — here are four easy stress-management survival tricks.

1.) TALK IT OUT
Fighting layoffs? A micro-managing supervisor? Just have too much to do? Feeling helpless can hit you, no matter what type of job you have or your rung on the ladder. To combat the problem, always make an effort to stay informed. Know as much as you can about what is going on above and below you, and keep both sides informed about you too. If you don't know what's going on in your boss's world, he probably has no idea what's really going on in yours, either.

2.) TAKE A BREAK
Nonstop work marathons actually hurt your productivity. Instead, take regularly scheduled breaks during the workday. Try a 10-minute stretch every hour. And stop eating lunch at your desk! You need a break away from your 8-by-8 world in order to recharge.

3.) REMEMBER: YOU'RE NOT PERFECT
Many of us brag about being a perfectionist — as if it's a good thing. Setting yourself up for such failure can send stress rocketing. Accept that you may not be able to do everything perfectly — but you can do everything correctly. Focus on doing that instead of being perfect, and everything else on your to-do list should fall into place.

4.) CUT THE CORD AFTER 5 P.M.
Too often we don't realize that our personal life can take a huge toll on our 9-to-5 life. If our personal life — social, physical, or emotional — is suffering, it will invariably poison the workday, since that's where most of us spend the majority of our time. Take care of your business at home and your stress levels should plummet. If they don't, the best stress relief may be a new job.

Ways in Better Sleep

A good night's sleep isn't always easy to come by, and here are a few other ways to promote better sleep.

Practice good "sleep hygiene." This does not mean making sure your bedding is clean! It means following good sleep habits, especially ensuring the bedroom environment is conducive to sleep. Among experts' recommendations: Use the bedroom only for sleep and sex; keep regular sleep and wake times; eliminate afternoon caffeine; banish pets (and snoring partners) from the bedroom; ensure the bedroom is a dark, cool, quiet place; and get computers and TVs out of the sleep environment, because they stimulate the brain and their light tells the body "it's daytime," disrupting the internal clock.

Break the rules when necessary. While experts' common-sense recommendations about sleep hygiene should be the first line of defense against insomnia, selectively breaking them can sometimes help, too. TV isn't recommended, for example, but a DVD or show (make it a boring one) may put some people to sleep

Develop a pre-bed relaxation ritual. To develop a nonstimulating evening ritual, you might recall what your parents did when you were young to get you in sleep mode. Or try taking a hot bath or sipping a warm cup of chamomile tea; either will raise your core body temperature, which leads to a drowsy feeling as you cool down.

Try not to self-medicate. There are antihistamines, like Benadryl, which have a sedative side effect. (The ingredient that causes drowsiness is also found in products like Tylenol PM and Advil PM.) But those medications can induce next-day grogginess—what some patients call "sleep hangovers"—and they can actually have an alerting or a disorienting effect on the elderly. Other OTC options include melatonin supplements and valerian extracts, although evidence of the effectiveness of either is slim.

Don't drink to sleep. Sure, sloshing down a little Pinot Noir will put you to sleep, but as the alcohol is metabolized by the body, it fragments sleep, which tends to cause nighttime awakenings and next-day tiredness. The misconception that alcohol helps - It doesn't.

Create a barrier between work and sleep. You want to have some sort of break from the day's stress before sleep. If you know you're going to bed at 10:30, stop your day at 10:15, or sooner if you can. Shortchanging that break can be a recipe for insomnia. Write down all the things you need to worry about on a piece of paper, and do your best to leave them behind. Whether asleep or awake, there's likely nothing you can do about them until tomorrow, anyway.

Don't "catastrophize." People who can't sleep tend to compound the problem by fretting about the consequences of their sleeplessness, like the possibility that they'll do a bad job at work and get fired.

Wine May Lower Risk of Esophageal Cancer

The research on the health benefits of wine continues, and recently, HealthDay confirms a study about the other health benefits of wine - lowers the risk of Esophageal Cancer.

Drinking a glass of wine a day may lower the risk of Barrett's esophagus, a condition that precedes esophageal cancer.

Barrett's esophagus, which affects about 5 percent of the population, occurs when heartburn or acid reflux permanently damages the lining of the esophagus. People with this condition are 30 to 40 times more likely to develop a type of esophageal cancer called esophageal adenocarcinoma. In the last 30 years, the incidence of esophageal cancer in the United States has increased 500 percent.

In this Kaiser Permanente study, researchers looked at 953 men and women in Northern California and found that those who drank one or more glasses of red or white wine a day were 56 percent less likely to develop Barrett's esophagus. Beer or liquor did not lower the risk, and the protective effect of wine didn't increased with higher consumption.

"The rate of esophageal adenocarcinoma in this country is skyrocketing, yet very little is known about its precursor, Barrett's esophagus. We are trying to figure out how to prevent changes that may lead to esophageal cancer," principal investigator Dr. Douglas A. Corley, said in a Kaiser Permanente news release.

The study was published in the March issue of Gastroenterology. Two other studies in the same issue of the journal reported similar findings. An Australian study found that people who drink wine were less likely to develop adenocarcinoma, and Irish researchers reported that drinking wine reduces the risk of esophagitis, an irritation of the esophagus that follows chronic heartburn and often precedes Barrett's esophagus and cancer.

It's not clear why wine may lower the risk of Barrett's esophagus. Researchers suggest it may be because antioxidants in wine neutralize the damage done by gastroesophageal reflux disease. Or it may be because wine drinkers typically have food with their wine, thereby reducing the potentially damaging effects that drinking alcohol alone can have on esophageal tissue.

The wine study is part of a larger Kaiser Permanente study led by Corley looking at the link between Barrett's esophagus and abdominal obesity and consumption of dietary antioxidants, fruits and vegetables. That study found that eating eight servings of fruit and vegetables a day and maintaining normal body weight can reduce the risk of Barrett's esophagus.

"My advice to people trying to prevent Barrett's esophagus is: Keep a normal body weight and follow a diet high in antioxidants and high in fruits and vegetables," Corley said. "We already knew that red wine was good for the heart, so perhaps here is another added benefit of a healthy lifestyle and a single glass of wine a day."