November is National Caregiver's month.
According to the experts, the role of caregiver is a demanding one. And that role is often assigned to women.
"More than half, according to some estimates, up to 80 percent of all caregivers are women. The average American caregiver is a female who is about 46 years old and spends an average of up to 20 hours a week providing care to someone," said Dr. Emese Somogyi of Castle Palliative Care.
Caregivers' daily duties can cover a wide range or be narrowly defined.
"Caregivers do many things from helping with household chores to providing personal care, coordinating medical care, appointments with physicians and so on," said Somogyi.
The fact is, caregivers can be called on to perform any number of tasks and that can be wearing.
"As a result of that many burnout and suffer from high degrees of physical complaints and emotional distress," said Somogyi.
The doctor says those problems can be wide-ranging.
"Many of them develop problems such as anxiety or depression. In addition, we also know that physical illnesses happen much more common among people who are caregivers such as heart disease or high blood pressure," said Somogyi.
Help for caregivers is available.
"Service organizations who provide all kinds of support. Also increasingly, employers realize that it really affects how people perform in their jobs and provide some sort of support," said Somogyi.
