Sitting In Office For 8 Hours Or More Elevates Heart Disease Risk: Simple Tips To Manage It

Most people know that prolonged sitting is not for them, but did you know that it can lead to heart problems as well? Here's how you can mitigate the risk.

Do you spend most of your time sitting in one place at a stretch? By now people are aware of the consequences of prolonged sitting. But a new study by the Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and Peking Union Medical College found that employees who sit at their desks for eight hours or more are at a 20 per cent risk of having a heart attack or stroke. For the study, records of 105,677 individuals from 21 nations were analysed by researchers over the course of 11 years. By the end of the study, almost 6,200 persons had passed away. In addition to 2,300 heart attacks and 3,000 strokes, there were 700 heart failure cases.

According to the researchers, employees who spend less time at their desks and engage in more physical exercise may have advantages compared to those of quit smoking. According to studies, excessive amounts of sitting and a lack of physical activity were to blame for 5.8 per cent of heart disease cases and 8.8 per cent of fatalities. Therefore, doctors advise people to take regular rests between tasks.

Sitting Long Hours Also Increases Diabetes Risk

The more you sit, the higher your chances of developing diabetes. A Journal of the American Heart Association found that each additional hour of sitting each day resulted in an increase in the insulin resistance of more than 7 per cent, and each additional uninterrupted 15 minutes of sitting resulted in an increase in the insulin resistance of almost 9 per cent.

Researchers also checked if exercise helped keep their blood sugar levels in check. They found that exercise was barely enough to negate the risk of diabetes. Additionally, they discovered that prolonged sitting and being obese or overweight elevated the risk of developing diabetes even further.

Long Sitting Hours Can Lead To Other Health Problems

Not only heart diseases and diabetes, sitting for long hours can take a toll on your overall health. It can have an impact on your stress levels, mental health, and posture. Long-term desk occupations can contribute to other health risks, including obesity, diabetes, hypertension, high cholesterol, and osteoarthritis. All these health problems may result from any of these factors.

Over the years, several studies have found that less sitting and more moving is the way to live a healthy life. If you have the option, begin by just standing rather than sitting. Or figure out how to walk while working. Apart from these, you can also incorporate the following methods to move more during the day.

• Stand up and move around every other hour of sitting.
• Stretches can help stretch the body, and may even prevent health problems in the long run.
• Place your laptop in front to sit properly.
• Stand while you are on the phone or watching something.