They’ve been billed as the final word antidote to sitting in entrance of a display screen all day on the workplace. However a examine suggests standing desks, which have soared in recognition lately, don’t compensate for being inactive and should even enhance the danger of situations similar to swollen veins and blood clots within the legs.
Analysis involving greater than 80,000 adults within the UK has additionally found that standing doesn’t scale back the danger of ailments similar to stroke and coronary heart failure, regardless of the broadly held perception that it does.
The examine, led by the College of Sydney, discovered that being in your toes for greater than two hours a day might enhance the danger of creating issues similar to deep vein thrombosis and varicose veins. The findings have been printed within the Worldwide Journal of Epidemiology.
Dr Matthew Ahmadi, of the College of Sydney’s school of medication and well being, mentioned individuals who sat or stood for lengthy durations ought to schedule common motion all through the day.
“The important thing takeaway is that standing for too lengthy won’t offset an in any other case sedentary way of life and could possibly be dangerous for some folks by way of circulatory well being. We discovered that standing extra doesn’t enhance cardiovascular well being over the long-term and will increase the danger of circulatory points,” Ahmadi mentioned.
To ascertain if standing offered any well being advantages, the researchers studied information from 83,013 adults who’re a part of the UK Biobank well being data database.
These folks didn’t have coronary heart illness at first of the examine and wore units on their wrists to trace motion. The workforce discovered that for each additional half-hour spent standing past two hours, the danger of circulatory illness elevated by 11%.
Standing was not discovered to scale back the danger of coronary heart situations similar to stroke, coronary heart failure and coronary coronary heart illness, the researchers mentioned.
Prof Emmanuel Stamatakis, the director of the Mackenzie Wearables Analysis Hub on the College of Sydney, mentioned: “For individuals who sit for lengthy durations frequently, together with loads of incidental motion all through the day and structured train could also be a greater solution to scale back the danger of heart problems.
“Take common breaks, stroll round, go for a strolling assembly, use the steps, take common breaks when driving lengthy distances, or use that lunch hour to get away from the desk and do some motion.”
Emily McGrath, a senior cardiac nurse on the British Coronary heart Basis who was not concerned with the analysis, mentioned the findings highlighted the significance of being energetic in the course of the working day.
“The extra folks can keep away from being stationary, the higher,” she mentioned. “Over the long run, the examine confirmed that standing time was not related to an elevated threat of heart problems, nevertheless it did produce other circulatory well being implications for some. It is very important get energetic to scale back this threat.”
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