Couch Hazards. Inactivity is harmful even with trips to the gym.

[snagglepuss]

Source: NYT


snip

The latest findings, published this week in The Journal of the American College of Cardiology, indicate that the amount of leisure time spent sitting in front of a screen can have such an overwhelming, seemingly irreparable impact on one’s health that physical activity doesn’t produce much benefit.


snip

Recreational screen time has an “independent, deleterious relationship” with cardiovascular events and death of all causes, the paper concluded, possibly because it induces metabolic changes.

One possible mechanism, demonstrated in animal studies, is that being sedentary may affect lipid metabolism. Prolonged inactivity appears to sharply reduce the activity of an important enzyme called lipoprotein lipase, which is responsible for breaking down circulating blood lipids and making them available to muscles for energy, Dr. Stamatakis said. Lowered enzyme activity leads to higher levels of fats and triglycerides in the blood, and to a higher risk of cardiovascular disease. Exercise has very little impact on the enzyme’s activity, he said.

Extended sitting may also lead to high levels of low-grade inflammation, which can also lead to heart disease, Dr. Stamatakis said. A marker of low-grade inflammation called C reactive protein was about three times higher in the study participants who spent the most time slouched in front of a screen.





http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/01/12/the-hazards-of-the-couch/

[LisaM]

1. Sounds as if computer time at work can be just as bad

(though obviously it's less discretionary).

We are having our offices remodelled, and they are giving us some new kind of desk that rises up, so you can work standing up for periods of time. I'm looking forward to this.

[flamingdem]

2. Companies need to start recess for employees with Dodgeball etc. nt

[Ezlivin]

4. Layoffs keep 'em moving

Carrying out their stuff also helps them hit their target heart rate.

Then the next several months of fruitless searching for a job can keep them active.

[RagAss]

5. And the ensuing hunger is also good for blood pressure.

[unblock]

3. in fact, readers who sat still long enough to read this entire article simply aarrrrhhhhhhhhhhh