Sitting down is terrible for your health – it is no far behind smoking as an overall risk factor.
This is surprising to many people. If you were to do a survey asking people what the biggest risks to life were, you’d have a wide range of answers. You can be sure that major diseases such as cancer and heart disease would be mentioned. That accidents could play a part, and that drink and drugs factor in.
We all know that smoking takes a terrible toll on health. It is unequivocally linked with cancer and a factor in multiple chronic diseases.
New research adds a new health hazard – sitting down.
Recent research show that it should be on the list. Multiple health concerns attributed to sitting down – even if you are fit and healthy in every other way.
The first ever link between illness and sitting down came in the 1950s. It emerged that bus drivers in the UK were twice as likely to have heart attacks as their conductor colleagues (a bus conductor was someone who collected tickets and regularly moved between the two floors of a double decker bus). The drivers would be sitting for 90% of their shifts, while the conductors would climb hundreds of stairs a day.
More detailed studies in the US have concluded that people who sit the most in comparison to those who sit the least have:
See this Healthcheck page at the NHS for stats and practical advice.
You can see the effects of sitting for prolonged periods above, but why does this happen? First, when sitting your blood flow will naturally slow down. This can lead to heart disease, as fatty acids are more likely to build up in your blood vessels.
Sitting can also lead to insulin resistance which in turn can be the cause of type 2 diabetes and obesity. Both are major risk factors in heart disease.
Sitting can also mean that your body’s ability to process fats is slowed, due to an enzyme that breaks down fat slowing down in production. The fat is instead stored, which is then more likely to lead to heart disease. There is a significantly greater chance of having a blood clot if you are sitting for extended periods of time.
In the modern workplace, sitting can be inevitable at times. However, there are a variety of ways in which you can make changes that can benefit your health.
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