SITTING CAUSES HOSPITALISATION

The ill effects of “Prolonged Sitting” during work and how can it be prevented.

Hey, it’s been a while since my last post. As said that, in order to compensate this long inactivity in the blog, I was sitting on my furniture pondering on “what subject to blog about?” As I didn’t come up with any ideas, I decided to let the idea come to me. So moving on to the next task in hand, I felt an insensate feeling all over my legs and thighs as I stood up. Quickly stumbling, I landed back on the seat. That was when, I realized I had been sitting for nearly 2 hours; I was stock-still all the while.

I was sitting tight!

You may be sitting while reading this now and might be comfortable right now. Being seated for a few minutes is probably fine, but the longer you veg the more ruffled your body becomes; our body, beginning to count time for us to get back on our feet. You may be thinking this sounds derisory.

Our bodies prefer to be seated, right?

Not really!

Well, sitting for a while might help us de-stress or recover from fatigue. But due to our sedentary lifestyle, we sit more than we require. Our human body is not engineered for such prolonged sitting periods. And there is evidence present to prove, in our own selves, that we are built to stay ambulant. Human body has more than 360 bone articulations and around 650 skeletal muscles for providing easy and elegant movements. The body’s unique built gives us the ability to stand upright, counter-acting the Earth’s gravitational pull. The blood circulation depends on our mobility; our neuronal system perquisites from our agility. Also our skin is elastic, meaning, it can mold to every single movement. So, with every cell of our body longing for us to move, what happens when we just don’t?

Firstly, let’s begin with the “Back bone” of the problem, literally. Our vertebral column is a long structure made of vertebral bone segments and spongy cartilage intervertebral disc between them. These joints are held and supported by the muscles and ligaments that are attached to them. We commonly tend to sit with a curved back and slumped shoulders, a position that exerts asymmetric pressure over the spine. Over the long run, this causes “wear and tear” of the spinal discs, overworks a few ligaments and joints, and puts stress on the back muscles that tend to stretch to accommodate to the curved posture. This also shrinks the chest cavity as we sit, resulting in a reduced room for our lungs to expand for respiration; thereby limiting the oxygen volume in the lungs and filtering into our blood.

All over the body the muscles, arteries and nerves form the fundamental supporting structures. The very act of sitting squeezes, pressurizes and compresses these delicate soft tissues of the body. As said about the insensate feeling my legs earlier, it is due to the compression of arteries, veins and nerves during sitting; limiting the nerve signaling resulting in numbness. In some occasions there would be swelling in the limbs this is due to the reduced blood flow in the legs. Long period sitting also deactivates the “Lipoprotein lipase”, a special enzyme at the walls of the blood capillaries that breaks down fat molecules. Thus, being put for long will cause fat pile up in the capillaries, as we are not burning fat nearly as we move around.

Does it have any ill effect on our brain?

We prefer to sit while we think, but ironically being seated for long hours, due to shrinking of the lungs, there will be a reduce in the blood flow and the oxygen volume in the blood. Both of these are required for our brain to function normally and stay attentive, so our concentration may dip as our mental function slows.

Unfortunately the ill effects of sitting have long term existence. It is found that sitting for long have role to play in causing Diabetes, Kidney and Liver disorders. In fact, researchers have found that inactivity constitutes nearly 9% of premature deaths, which are more than 4.5 million people. Long time seats contribute to a few types of heart disorders and cancers.

Long sitting has dangerous after-effects on life.

Though, this mounting threat has a few simple and intuitive solutions. When you are left no choice than to sit, then try sitting upright in posture than slouched. And while you are not bound to your seats, try to move around stretching your limbs, by setting a reminder for every 20 to 30 minutes. Above all try to appreciate the fact that your body is meant to move and not stay stationary.

As of fact, since today’s blog is almost over, why not get on your feet and stretch right now? Treat your body with a walk and it’ll thank you later!