Most Star Wars fans know that the dark side of the force has a negative effect on the user’s body (ok, I’ll admit right now that I’m probably in the camp of those who believe "all I really need to know I learned from Star Wars")

"Anger, fear, aggression; the dark side of the Force are they." Yoda

In an earlier post, I mentioned how a large amount of new research shows that chronic stress plays a major role in destroying the memory engine (hippocampus) of your brain.

Additionally, I’ve also pointed out how many studies

High Blood pressure is enemy #1 of the brain. It ravages the small blood vessels that feed brain tissue, and over time leads to many little holes in the brain (technically known as infarcts or strokes).

In our quest to be ever more productive at work, we put in longer and longer hours. In doing so, however, we may be setting our brains up for long-term failure: