You might love your well-paying desk job very much. But, if you’re at it for more than 8 hours a day, your heart might not like it very much.
ONE studying (opens in new tab) from the Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and Peking Union Medical College reveals that sitting for more than 8 hours in the office increases the risk of developing heart failure by up to 50%.
The headline numbers
It was also not a small study to overlook, as it included 105,677 participants aged between 35 and 70 years recruited from January 1, 2003 and followed up to August 31, 2021 in up to 21 high- and middle-income people. and low-income countries.
During a median follow-up of 11.1 years, 6,233 deaths and 5,696 major cardiovascular events were documented, including 2,966 strokes and 671 heart failure.
How can the problem be avoided?
It found that the most effective way to reduce heart disease among people who work longer hours sitting at a desk was to get them to engage in at least 30 minutes of moderate to intense physical activity a day.
If that’s hard to achieve, here are some tips to help reduce desk work-related health issues.
- Position the monitor and mouse according to your height. This helps to avoid slouching.
- Change your position every 30-45 minutes.
- Use an ergonomic chair that helps reduce lower back pain, supporting your posture and thus increasing productivity.
- Finally, take breaks. Move as much as possible when time allows and do simple stretches (neck, chest, torso) as well.
For people who work from home, avoiding working in bed is of paramount importance as it does more harm than good. Working in bed causes the person to assume an unnatural position and sleep hygiene is confusing as well.
However, engaging in productive physical activity will be the most effective way to beat most ailments caused by working long hours at the desk forever.