Why are you exhausted after a long day's work? Researchers discover a clue

HealthWatch: Next round of COVID boosters; benefits of tea; why you're exhausted after work

BOSTON -- Why do so many of us feel exhausted after a long day's work? Researchers have discovered a clue.

French researchers found that doing mentally challenging tasks for more than six hours triggers a buildup of a molecule in the brain called glutamate.

Glutamate is involved in learning and memory, but high levels can be toxic. They say we may be programmed to feel tired after taxing our brains so that we take a break and allow levels of glutamate in the brain to fall.

Ways to reduce fatigue at work are to get good sleep the night before and to take frequent breaks throughout the day.

Mallika Marshall, MD

Mallika Marshall, MD is an Emmy-award-winning journalist and physician who has served as the HealthWatch Reporter for CBS Boston/WBZ-TV for over 20 years. A practicing physician Board Certified in both Internal Medicine and Pediatrics, Dr. Marshall serves on staff at Harvard Medical School and practices at Massachusetts General Hospital at the MGH Chelsea Urgent Care and the MGH Revere Health Center, where she is currently working on the frontlines caring for patients with COVID-19. She is also a host and contributing editor for Harvard Health Publications (HHP), the publishing division of Harvard Medical School.

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