Sitting for Prolonged Periods Raises Cardiovascular Disease Risk, Study Finds

A study carried out by Taipei Medical University, in Taiwan, followed around 480,000 people over 20 years and indicated that working for a long time sitting can increase the risk of early death by up to 16%. Raquel Casarotto, professor at the Department of Physiotherapy, Speech Therapy and Occupational Therapy (Fofito) at the Faculty of Medicine (FM) at the University of São Paulo, discusses the risks associated with spending long periods in this position and how to adjust the body to the work environment.

According to the teacher, spending long periods of time working sitting increases the risk of the emergence of so-called musculoskeletal problems, which are disorders and injuries that occur in the muscles, nerves, joints, cartilage and discs of the spine and are usually accompanied by pain and discomfort. She says that the most common postural problems affect two regions of the spine: the cervical, which is in the neck region, and the lumbar, the lower back.

“In addition to pain in the cervical spine, in the neck region, and in the lumbar spine, which is the lower part of the spine, if a person works sitting and has a workstation that is not properly adjusted to them, pain may also occur. in other places, such as the shoulder, knee, hip, ankle and upper limbs, such as the wrist and elbows”, he states.

Vascular problems

According to the expert, in addition to musculoskeletal problems, this way of working can also cause sedentary behavior which, in turn, leads to more serious health problems. One of the complications related to this approach is the increase in insulin resistance, which, according to her, is responsible for causing the onset of type 2 diabetes.

According to Raquel, another difficulty caused by sedentary behavior is the increase in the amount of lipids in the bloodstream, which causes vascular obstruction, also known as atherosclerosis. She states that the most common cardiovascular diseases resulting from blocked arteries are heart attacks and cerebrovascular accidents (CVAs), popularly known as strokes.

“In addition to these more common problems, you can also have peripheral vascular obstruction, which, depending on the severity, can even lead to limb amputation. So, all these diseases are caused by an increase in circulating lipids, so it is important to avoid this sedentary behavior”, he explains.

How to avoid

As the teacher explains, it is important that individuals who work long periods of time sitting do not remain in this position during their leisure time outside of the work environment. She warns that even practicing physical activities alone is not capable of alleviating the disorders caused by sitting for a long time and, therefore, to reduce these effects it is important to organize breaks to move around during the workday.

“These problems occur regardless of physical activity. So, if a person sits for eight hours at work, then sits for another three hours watching television and then goes for an hour run at the gym, there is no point, this will still increase the risk of all these vascular diseases”, he assesses.

According to the professor, workers often need to move within the company’s own space. She says that experts make some basic suggestions on how to exercise in the workplace and that they make a huge difference to well-being and the fight against diseases. 

“We have these basic guidelines: if you are going to work driving, get off one stop earlier to walk more. During work it is important to organize breaks, go for a walk, take a document, have a coffee, go to the bathroom, walk more within the company itself. If there are floors, go to one floor, then the other”, he advises.

Work stations

According to Raquel Casarotto, breaks and movement at work reduce the risk of acquiring cardiovascular diseases, but, to alleviate musculoskeletal problems, it is essential to adjust the work environment. She says that workers who have this pain generally have chairs that are not suitable for their body’s anthropometric measurements, in addition to a poor arrangement of furniture.

According to the teacher, the variables related to the work environment that generate more pain in the musculoskeletal system involve using chairs that only support the lumbar region, having the mouse away from the keyboard, having the head tilted 45º downwards and working with both arms above the table level. She warns, however, that there is no point in having the right workstation and continuing to sit for long hours, as the problems will continue.

“Ideally, when you get tired, start to feel uncomfortable, you get up, there is work that shows that, after 40 minutes of sitting, signs of fatigue begin to appear. We don’t have a precise recommendation for hours, but the general recommendation that we experts give is that people get up every hour”, he concludes.