Why you should stand up every half hour

Read 2 things today that I think are important to put into most peoples routines.

EXERCISE WON'T FIX WHAT SITTING FOR HOURS DOES TO YOU-
_________________________________________Beware, couch potatoes: The evidence is piling up that too much sitting can take a serious toll on your health.

A new study links sitting for prolonged periods of time to increased risk for heart disease, diabetes, cncr and early death -- even in people who get regular exercise.

"Even if you do a half an hour or an hour or of exercise every day doesn't give us the reassurance that sitting for the other 23 hours is ok. In fact, it's not," said Dr. David Alter of the Toronto Rehabilitation Institute, one of the authors of the study.

The study, published Monday in Annals of Internal Medicine, is based on a review and analysis of previous research. It found that the health hazards seem to be greatest for people who sit 8 or 9 hours a day. The impact was even more pronounced in people who did not exercise regularly.

The study found sitting for prolonged periods raised the risk of cardiovascular disease by 14 percent, cncr by 13 percent, and diabetes by a whopping 91 percent. Those who sat for long stretches and got no regular exercise had a 40 percent higher risk of early death. With regular exercise, the risk was smaller but still significant: about 10 percent."We know that when you sit, you increase your insulin resistance," Dr. Michael Roizen of the Cleveland Clinic told CBS News chief medical correspondent Dr. Jon LaPook. "What that means is you don't take the sugar that's in your blood and move it into your cells as well."

Researchers say the average person spends more than half their waking hours sedentary, doing such things as working at a computer, watching TV or sitting in traffic. But Alter says there are some simple steps anyone can take to incorporate more activity into their day.


Is sitting the new smoking?

He suggests standing up and taking a quick, 1- to 3-minute break every half hour or so throughout the day. Standing burns twice as many calories as sitting. Some offices have taken this to heart and given workers standing desks to help boost their health and fitness levels while they work.

Kim Milnes says since she got a standing desk at her office at Bayer HealthCare in New Jersey, "My energy level is just much more consistent throughout the day. I don't have those kinds of ups and downs that I had when I was more sedentary.

__________________________________________DON'T SIT UP STRAIGHT IT IS BAD FOR YOUR BACK___________________________________________



It seems that sitting up straight, something many of us are taught from a very early age, is not good for your back, say researchers from Scotland and Canada. They found that sitting up straight strains your back unnecessarily. Ideally, you should lean slightly back, at an angle of about 135 degrees, they say.

The researchers, at Woodend Hospital, Aberdeen, Scotland, used a novel form of MRI (magnetic resonance imaging) on 22 healthy volunteers to identify which positions are best, and which are worst, for our backs. The Positional MRI Machine allows the patient to move around during the examination.

The volunteers were asked to sit in three different positions:

1. Slouching. The person hunches forward, with feet touching the floor.
2. Upright, at 90 degrees, with feet touching the floor.
3. Relaxed, reclined backwards at 135 degrees, with feet touching the floor.

Measurements of spinal angles, spinal disk height, and movements were taken. When undue strain is placed on a disk, it moves - often out of place. The researchers found that the upright position, at 90 degrees, caused disks to move the most, while the relaxed position (135 degrees) caused disks to move the least. In other words, the upright position is the worst for the back, while the relaxed position is the best.

Study leader, Dr. Waseem Bashir, University of Alberta Hospital, Canada, said "Sitting in a sound anatomic position is essential, since the strain put on the spine and its associated ligaments over time can lead to pain, deformity and chronic illness."

The study was presented at the Annual Meeting of the Radiological Society of North America (RSNA).

"The Way You Sit Will Never Be the Same! Alterations of Lumbosacral Curvature and Intervertebral Disc Morphology in Normal Subjects in Variable Sitting Positions Using Whole-body Positional MRI
Waseem Bashir MBChB, Tetsuya Torio MD, Francis Smith MD, Keisuke Takahashi, Malcolm Pope PhD
Abstract

Comment by Editor of Medical News Today

Many of us spend hours each day sitting down. I am in front of a computer screen for about ten-to-twelve hours a day. This study will completely change the way I try to position myself on my chair - I used to think sitting-up straight was the best. I always walk about when I am on the phone - I have been doing this for about two years and have found that the extra body movement is not only good for my back and general health, but also for my mental well being. Every hour I force myself to get up and walk about for a few minutes, no matter how important the work at hand is.