Working People And Sitting Disease
A significant percentage of working people sit in front of a computer all day as part of their job, not realizing that they are increasing their risk of developing certain types of cancer, heart disease, and diabetes, even if they take the time to get out there and exercise.
According to the University Health Network (UHN), more than half of all people spend their days being sedentary, either working at a computer or sitting in front of a television.
The research study by the UHN indicated that even if a person exercises, sitting too much can cause adverse effects on the body.
The research study looked at 47 other primary research studies that looked into the effect of sitting and the risk of death. The article was published in the journal, Annals of Internal Medicine. It found that the risk of death among people who sit most of the day is 24 percent higher than those who didn’t sit as much.
It indicated that sitting eight hours a day is probably considered the cut-off for sitting “too much.”
The risk of heart disease deaths were 18 percent higher in sitters and the risk of death due to cancer was 17 percent higher.
Those who sat too much had a 13-14 percent greater chance of developing type 2 diabetes.
The risk of dying from endometrial, ovarian, colorectal, colon, and breast cancer was particularly high among people who sat too much.
While exercise improved the risk of dying from these diseases, it didn’t reduce the risk completely.
Exercising resulted in a 33 percent less chance of dying compared to those who didn’t exercise at all. The studies involved almost 830,000 people so it safe to say that the results of the study were accurate.
It recommended that people stand more and exercise more in order to reduce their risk of these diseases.
Sitting Disease
While not technically a medical diagnosis, there is such a thing as “sitting disease” that is more prominent among professional entrepreneurs who don’t exercise and spend much of their time sitting.
It refers to having a metabolic disease caused by excessive sitting. It is a serious disease, causing as many deaths as patients who are smokers.
According to experts, the amount of time commuting to and from work plus the amount of time sitting at home is more than 7 hours per day.
People with sitting disease are 94 percent more likely to die from cancer, heart disease, or diabetes.
Men who sit more at work had a 48 percent greater incidence of death from various causes when compared to men who weren’t “sitters.”
Around 60 percent of workers indicated that they would be more productive if they were allowed to stand more than sit during their workday.
Fortunately, about 2/3 of employers offered desks to their employees that allowed them to adjust the desk so they could stand at least some of the time.
Besides cancer, heart disease, and cancer, having “sitting disease” increased the chances of being obese or having metabolic syndrome, which is a disease that affects glucose metabolism, triglyceride levels, blood pressure, and the risk of heart disease.
Another study looked at people who sit too much in front of the television. They compared the risk of various diseases in people who sat in front of the TV for less than two hours per day to people who sat in front of the TV for more than 4 hours per day.
People who sat in front of some sort of screen had a 50 percent greater chance of dying from any type of disease and a 125 percent increased risk of developing heart diseases, including heart attack, stroke, and peripheral vascular disease.
The study made some recommendations as to how people could spend less time sitting.
Some examples included the following:
Work while running on a treadmill, even if the pace is slow
Do laps during conferences rather than sitting around a table for the conference
Try buying or acquiring a standing desk or use a counter to do your work on
Stand during lunch or when using the telephone
It turns out that any type of movement can decrease your risk. Even if you don’t exercise but instead just stand all day, your chances of dying from heart disease or other diseases related to sitting are greatly diminished.