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November 5, 2011
Oh, Great - Now Just SITTING is Tied to Cancer
From the Los Angeles Times.
... researchers estimated that up to 49,000 cases of breast cancer and 43,000 cases of colon cancer each year are tied to lack of physical activity.“Sitting time is emerging as a strong candidate for being a cancer risk factor in its own right,” Neville Owen, the head of behavioral epidemiology at the Baker IDI Heart and Diabetes Institute in Australia, said in a statement. “It seems highly likely that the longer you sit, the higher your risk. ..."
And those of us who might be feeling a little smug at this point because we work out semi-regularly can forget it because we are not exempt.
"... The phenomenon isn’t dependent on body weight or how much exercise people do.” ...Even someone who starts her day off with a vigorous 30-minute workout still has to worry about how she spends the other 15 1/2 hours of her waking hours, said Alice Bender, a registered dietitian and spokeswoman for the American Institute for Cancer Research.
Fortunately, ameliorating this newly discovered factor is relatively easy, if not 100% conducive to business.
What can you do? Just getting up for a minute or two each hour would offer some protection, according to the American Institute for Cancer Research. Instead of sending an email, walk over to a colleague’s desk and chat in person, the experts suggest. Or head to the water cooler for a drink.
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The most outrageous part of this story is that Big Furniture is covering up research that proves there is an increased cancer risk from second hand sitting. The federal government needs to act on this right away and ban sitting in restaurants and on airplanes. Won't someone please think of the children?
Posted by: David P at November 5, 2011 12:26 PMBeing alive causes cancer.
Posted by: joe bernstein at November 5, 2011 12:31 PMCommit suicide and be free of cancer fears.
My grandfather smoked cigars,drank a good amount,had a miserable temperament,had tuberculosis at an early age(early 30's)and it finally killed him-at 93.
I switched to a 'standing desk' about a month ago. Here's a quick list of changes I've noticed:
1. My neck and back pain are gone during the workday, my neck injury only bothers me when I'm sitting for long periods now.
2. I have more energy.
3. I've lost three inches from my waist, but not much 'weight'. I'm guessing that I'm burning about 500 extra calories a day, and that the weight loss around my belly is offset by muscle gains in my legs (which have gotten stronger) and bone re-calcification.
4. My shin splints when running or briskly walking have gone away completely.
5. My coworkers think I'm crazy. Actually, they probably thought this before.
6. I used to get weird heart palpitations and lightheadedness when I stood up or leaned over after long sessions. That no longer happens.
It's amazing how quickly the body adjusts to standing, I encourage anyone who sits for a living to give it a try for a few weeks.
Posted by: mangeek at November 5, 2011 1:25 PMThis is one of those "scare" stories that makes me very suspicious.
How in the world did they reach these conclusions . . . Ok, so you can follow trends in certain professions where folks are seated most of the day, I get that.
But who is to say which of those subjects, over the years, got up every hour or so to walk around and which did not?
I refuse to "stand" for such shoddy science . . .
Posted by: brassband at November 5, 2011 5:15 PMOh no. Brassband has been co-opted by Big Furniture.
How'd they suck you in, Brass? A leather desk chair? An ergonomic one?
A barcalounger???
Posted by: Monique at November 6, 2011 8:52 AMI do wonder sometimes. This one reminds of the thousand monkeys with typewrites who would eventually write Shakespeare (statistically untrue).
As we all know from the "butterfly effect" thesis, everything is related to everything. How does one sort out the "primary causes".
Posted by: Warrington Faust at November 6, 2011 9:36 AM