A study by the University of Queensland in Australia found that sitting for one hour is about as harmful as smoking two cigarettes and reducing life by 22 minutes. For this reason, life times interviewed authoritative experts to sort out “what diseases do sedentary people bring” for you, and at the same time called on everyone to take every opportunity to stand up and say goodbye to “chair disease”!
Interviewed experts
Gou Bo, Professor of sports medicine teaching and Research Office of Xi’an Institute of Physical Education
Lu Yifan, Professor of sports medicine teaching and Research Office of Beijing Sport University
Shen Yanying, expert of China Health Education Center
sitting for one hour reduces life by 22 minutes
Everyone knows that smoking can hurt people, but many people may not realize that sitting for a long time is no less harmful than smoking, and it may even catch up with and surpass. A study by the University of Queensland in Australia found that sitting for one hour is about as harmful as smoking two cigarettes and reducing life by 22 minutes. Shen Yanying, an expert from the China Health Education Center, also pointed out that sedentary behavior is as harmful to health as smoking. We should pay attention to sedentary behavior as we do to smoking.
The World Health Organization (who) has long listed sedentary as one of the ten leading causes of death and disease. According to statistics, more than 2 million people worldwide die from sedentary every year. It is estimated that by 2020, 70% of diseases in the world will be caused by sedentary. Professor Hong Zhaoguang, chief health education expert of the health and Family Planning Commission, expressed deep concern: “sedentary has become a global problem endangering health.”
Gou Bo, a professor of the sports medicine teaching and Research Office of Xi’an Institute of physical education, told the life times that sedentary and sedentary lifestyle is a typical static lifestyle today, which will bring a lot of harm to health. For example, when the body is tilted forward by 20 degrees, the pressure on the lumbar spine is several times that of sitting upright. In the long run, it may lead to lumbar muscle strain, lumbar disc herniation and other diseases.
British physiotherapist Tim alegos explained that our bodies are naturally in need of activity. For example, the spine is composed of 26 bones, each of which is “designed” to be easy to move, and can rotate and bend. Knees, hips and ankles are also easy to move joints.
If we sit in a chair for several hours every day, five days a week, and the spine, knees and hips are bent for a long time, the body will become stiff, the muscles will become tense, sore, and even lead to spinal problems such as intervertebral disc herniation.
sitting for a long time will hurt you from head to toe.
In fact, in addition to causing harm to the shoulders, neck, waist and back, the impact of sitting for a long time on health is multifaceted. For example, sedentary people are prone to obesity, and obesity will bring many disease risks such as “three highs”. What diseases will sedentary people bring? Life times asked experts to answer for you
1. Eye disease
Sitting in front of the computer for a long time will force the ciliary muscles of the eyes to be in a contracted and tense state because of the proximity of the visual objects, so that the crystals will become convex to adapt to the near visual objects. If the eyes are in a tense state for a long time and can not rest, it will lead to myopia.
Visual fatigue can also cause obstruction of aqueous humor, leading to glaucoma. In addition, cataracts, corneal ulcers, and dry eye are also eye diseases that people who use computers for a long time are prone to.
2. cervical spondylosis
The orthopedics department of the Third Hospital of Peking University made a survey of nearly 300 cervical spine cases from across the country. It was found that the middle-aged and young people under 40 years old accounted for 48.1% of the cervical spondylosis population, and the male was 3% higher than the female. The prevalence of finance, assembly line operation, word work, teachers, graphic design, it, drivers and other industries accounted for the top seven respectively.
After cervical spondylosis compresses the nerve root, headache, dizziness, memory loss and other symptoms will appear, and those who are serious can not take care of themselves.
3. heart disease
When sitting for a long time, muscles burn less fat, blood flows slowly, and fatty acids are deposited in blood vessels, which is very easy to block heart blood vessels.
A study by the University of South Carolina in the United States found that compared with those who sit less than 11 hours a week, those who sit for more than 23 hours have a 64% higher chance of dying from a heart attack.
4. Lumbar disc injury
Studies have shown that if the human body maintains a correct sitting posture when sitting, the pressure in the lumbar intervertebral disc is six times that in the supine position; If the posture is poor, the pressure will soar to 11 times that in the supine position.
Working in a sitting position for a long time makes the back muscles in a state of extreme tension, which is extremely easy to cause strain of the back muscles, destroy the stability of the lumbar spine, and cause prolapse of the lumbar intervertebral disc.
5. Hemorrhoids
If you keep sitting for a long time, the abdominal blood flow will slow down, the venous blood of the lower limbs will not flow back, and the blood circulation will be hindered.
In this case, the rectal venous plexus is prone to varicose, leading to blood stasis and eventually forming a venous mass, namely hemorrhoids.
6. Lower limb thrombosis
Sitting still for a long time reduces the muscle contraction of the legs and slows down the blood flow of the lower limbs, thus increasing the probability of thrombosis.
According to a research report published in the proceedings of the Royal Medical Association of the UK, the risk of deep vein thrombosis of the lower limbs of people who sit in a fixed position for more than 3 hours every day is twice that of other people.
7. diabetes
A study by the University of Leicester found that a sedentary lifestyle can increase the risk of type 2 diabetes by 112%. According to the analysis of researchers, due to sedentary and lack of exercise, the body will have abnormal distribution of gravitational adipose tissue.
Fat accumulates in the lower abdomen and lumbar back, leading to centripetal obesity, which leads to metabolic abnormalities and induces diabetes.
8. Alzheimer’s disease
Muscle activity can help pump fresh blood to the brain and promote the brain to release various chemicals that strengthen the brain and improve mood. When we sit for a long time, everything slows down, including brain function.
A study by the University of California, San Francisco found that sedentary is an important factor in increasing the risk of Alzheimer’s disease.
9. Cancer
German researchers found that sedentary is associated with an increased risk of colon cancer, breast cancer and endometrial cancer. Because the number of immune cells in the human body increases with the increase of activity, sitting still for a long time will cause the human body to lack enough immune cells.
In the survey of patients undergoing gastric cancer surgery in Japan, it was also found that eating too saturated and sitting for a long time without exercising were their common characteristics.
10. Disability
A study of 2286 subjects conducted by Feinberg School of medicine of Northwestern University in the United States found that sitting for a long time increased the risk of disability of the elderly. For example, a 65 year old woman who sits for 12 hours a day has a disability risk of 6%, and a 65 year old woman who sits for 13 hours a day has a disability risk of 9%.
I have to get up every 30 minutes.
Dr Emma Wilton of the University of Leicester in the UK believes that those who need to sit and work all day still face health risks even if they take a little time to exercise every day.
Because long-term inactivity will change the enzymes in muscles, and thus cause the problem of high blood sugar. This effect occurs almost immediately, so waiting until the end of the day to do another exercise can not play a perfect protective role.
The simplest way to prevent sedentary injury is to sit for no more than 30 minutes, even if you go to get a glass of water.
When sitting, it is recommended to maintain the correct posture:
① The back is straight, the shoulders are naturally drooping, and the elbows are relaxed and placed on both sides of the body;
② The hips should be able to touch the back of the chair, and cross your legs less;
③ The keyboard should be in front of you, the mouse should be on the side of the keyboard, and the phone should not be too far away from people. It is best to reach for it as soon as you reach out;
④ When using the keyboard and mouse, keep your wrists as straight as possible and your shoulders relaxed.
6 actions to reduce sedentary injury
In addition to avoiding sitting for too long, it is also necessary to do more exercise, especially stretching. Liu canhong, director of the Department of rehabilitation medicine of Shuanghe Hospital of Taiwan administration, and Lina Mogg, an Indian fitness coach, recommended some “easy exercises” to reduce sedentary injuries, which can be done every day.
standing up is good for health.
Standing is a good “exercise” in itself. When standing, the heart rate will accelerate 10 times per minute on average. The human body can burn 0.7 kcal more calories per minute, and 50 kcal per hour.
Kewen, the relevant head of public health in the UK? Professor Fenton said that the advantages of standing are numerous: standing can improve posture and relieve back pain; It can accelerate blood circulation and promote cardiovascular health; When standing, people will be more willing to walk, walk farther, and climb stairs more often.
Another British study confirmed that if you can persist in standing for 3 hours a day for 5 days a week for a long time, the effect is equivalent to running 10 marathons. Because when standing, all the muscles in the legs are working. If you walk or take other actions, the amount of muscle activity will become larger and more calories will be consumed. If you go out for a walk on a sunny day, it is also good for bone health and can prevent and alleviate osteoporosis. Standing also has a positive effect on improving mood and improving work efficiency.
Research in the United States shows that standing can stimulate imagination and creativity and improve work efficiency. Gou Bo said that it is difficult for people to maintain high concentration for a long time. After working for 50-60 minutes, standing up and exercising for 5-10 minutes will not only help people’s health, but also effectively relieve work pressure.
take every opportunity to stand up.
In our busy work and life every day, we should create as many opportunities for ourselves to stand up and exercise. As long as we develop the habit of standing regularly and stand for 2-3 hours every day, we can gain points for our health. To “stand out” for health, we should grasp the following three principles:
1. You can stand without sitting
Many changes in details can help us develop the habit of standing. For example, drive less and use public transport more; Don’t “grab seats” when you take the subway or bus to and from work, and try to stand for a while; Stand up to answer the phone. If it’s a mobile phone, you can walk in the corridor and answer it at the same time; Drink water with a small cup, and increase the number of times you stand up to receive water; If you feel sleepy in the afternoon, you can stand and walk instead of coffee; It’s best to wash the dishes immediately after dinner, so as not to grow a small belly in the sofa; After dinner, standing and watching TV, watering flowers, feeding fish, doing housework, opening a window and looking around for a while can keep you away from the sofa.
2. Grasp the lunch time
Lunch is the best opportunity for office workers to stand up and take part in activities. We must seize it. It’s better to refuse takeout and try to eat out if you can, otherwise you’ll spend the whole day at your desk.
If conditions permit, try to take a walk after dinner, which can not only alleviate sleepiness, but also increase the amount of exercise and bring vitality to the work in the afternoon. The elderly should not take a lunch break immediately after lunch. It is better to walk around the house for 10 minutes or stand for a while before taking a rest.
3. Try to go further
When you go home from work, you may as well get off one stop in advance to walk home, not only to exercise, but also to see the scenery along the road, so as to alleviate the fatigue of the whole day; When you drive out for business, you can park your car a little farther away to increase your chances of walking; If you can take the stairs, don’t take the elevator.
In addition, Lu Yifan, a professor in the Sports Medicine Research Office of Beijing Sport University, said that “standing pile” practice is a good way to alleviate muscle aging, and can be practiced at home or in the office.
Specific methods: keep your legs apart and shoulder width apart, stand naturally, and put your hands flat in front of your body; Slowly and evenly bend your knees and squat down; The knee joint can be flexed to 130 ° ~ 150 °.
The standing pile shall be kept step by step, and the time for each time shall be extended to 3-5 minutes as much as possible according to personal conditions. It should be reminded that standing should also be moderate, not the longer you stand, the better, and standing still for a long time will also damage your health. You should walk more while standing.
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