How Sitting Dramatically Reduces Lifespan

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How Sitting Dramatically Reduces Lifespan

Having a sedentary lifestyle is known to put your life at risk â€" not only does being a “couch potato” increase the risk for obesity and blood clots, but also the risk for certain types of cancer as a new study has revealed. According to this study that has been recently released, those who spend most of the day sitting in front of their TV or computer and doing nothing all day long are more likely to develop cancer, as opposed to those who have an active lifestyle and who exercise on a regular basis. Statistically speaking, every two hours of sitting down increases your risk of developing cancer by no less than 10%.

However, it seems that the link between sitting down and cancer is not related necessarily to the amount of physical exercise, but to the amount of time people sit down. The study is basically a review of 43 other studies that were conducted on no less than 4 million participants, and in addition to increasing the risk of cancer, excessive sitting and sedentarism can also lead to heart disease and diabetes, later in life. The 43 studies mentioned above included numerous interviews and questionnaires aimed at the lifestyle habits of the participants, and they included questions about the estimated time people spend sitting down or watching TV, on a daily basis.

The same study has revealed that sitting down for a longer period can increase the risk for three dangerous type of cancer: endometrial, bowel and lung cancer. The endometrial cancer (womb lining cancer) appears in women, while the risk of lung and bowel cancer is raised by six to eight percent for every two extra hours of sitting down.

It often happens that people sit down and watch TV, and one of the most common behaviors associated with this habit is eating fast food and drinking sodas and other sugary beverages that can increase the risk of diabetes due to weight gain and obesity, and also the risk for cancer â€" as a matter of fact, all these risk factors are somewhat interconnected.

Throughout the years, there have been conducted many different studies aimed at those who live a sedentary lifestyle, and while some of these studies are aimed exclusively at the negative health effects of sitting down, others aimed to prove that there is a strong connection between a sedentary lifestyle and an average lifespan that is five years shorter than it normally would â€" especially if the participants are watching TV.

The study that is focused on sitting and the development of the lung, endometrial and colon cancer is actually a meta analysis that focuses on the findings of all the other 43 studies mentioned above. The analysis was published in the well-known Journal of the National Cancer Institute on Monday and it is a very valuable piece of research for the international health community. The 42 studies were aimed at around 69,000 cases of cancer identified in the four million participants mentioned earlier, and it has concluded that the more time we spend sitting down (be it in a wheelchair, on a desk chair in front of the computer or on a sofa in front of the TV), the higher the risk of developing one of these three types of cancer.

One of the doctors who is a co-author of this recently published study, Dr. Daniela Schmidt, has clearly explained how the cancer risk is related to sedentary behaviors. It was not a secret to anybody that living a sedentary lifestyle can take its toll on your health and life, but the results of this study (which was conducted by the University of Regensburg in Germany) has provided the medical community with solid proof.

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