How TLC Makes You Sick; Caring for loved ones endangers health, research says.

Publication: Newsweek

Publication Date: 31-MAY-04

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Byline: Claudia Kalb, With Joan Raymond

When she's not working as a naturalist leading tours through the Minnesota woods, Pat Rummenie takes care of her husband, Mike, 62, who was diagnosed with Alzheimer's four years ago. She helps him get dressed, she cooks his meals, she monitors his medications. Her mom, Lorraine Rains, is doing pretty well at 81, but she needs a hand with chores. On top of all that, Rummenie, 56, has diabetes and arthritis. Last week the stress got so bad that a counselor prescribed a mandatory vacation. "Sometimes I feel like a walking dead person," she says, "but I wouldn't change anything."

More than 20 million households contain Americans who look after...

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