For a long time, medical professionals have been warning people about the risks of leading an unhealthy lifestyle and the related effects on the heart. And now, new research has indicated that those who work in offices have a greater risk of suffering from cardiovascular events including heart attacks and strokes.
Workers who sit at their desks for eight hours a day are 20 percent more likely to have a heart attack or stroke, according to a study from the Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and Peking Union Medical College. Sitting for long periods increases the risk of developing heart failure by nearly half.
The individuals who exercised the most (12 ½ half hours per week) had just a 17 percent greater risk of death due to heart disease. Those participants who exercised the least (less than two and a half hours per week) had a risk that was enhanced by fifty percent.
Additionally, it was shown that sitting for long periods of time coupled with a lack of physical activity caused 8.8% of fatalities and 5.8% of instances of heart disease. A more active lifestyle is encouraged by the study’s lead author, Wei Li.
Over 11 years, researchers examined the records of 105,677 individuals in 21 nations. By the end of the study, there were over 6,200 deaths. There were also 2,300 cases of heart attacks, 3,000 cases of strokes, and 700 cases of heart failure, however not all of these were fatal.
The participants were separated into groups depending on the amount of time they confessed to spending at their workstations. The study also found that regular exercise may help lessen the risks of excessive sitting at their workstation.
The researchers said that reducing sitting time behind desks and increasing physical activities could achieve benefits similar to curbing smoking. For a long time, doctors have urged people to take regular breaks in between work.
Even doctors recommend at least 30 minutes of moderate to vigorous physical exercise on a daily basis. Nearly160,000 people die each year from heart and circulation disorders in the UK. This is the greatest cause of mortality for Americans, killing 659,000 people a year, or one person every 36 seconds. In India, the figure stands at a whopping 17 lakh each year!
