{"id":45806,"date":"2018-01-12T20:32:08","date_gmt":"2018-01-13T04:32:08","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/siliconeer.com\/current\/?p=45806"},"modified":"2018-01-12T20:32:08","modified_gmt":"2018-01-13T04:32:08","slug":"sitting-is-dangerous-to-your-health-asserts-bay-area-physician","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/siliconeer.com\/current\/sitting-is-dangerous-to-your-health-asserts-bay-area-physician\/","title":{"rendered":"Sitting is Dangerous to Your Health, Asserts Bay Area Physician"},"content":{"rendered":"

The next time a guest walks into your home you may want to think twice before telling her to take a seat. You might, instead, say, \u201cHey, let\u2019s stand and talk for a bit, shall we.\u201d (Prolonged) sitting, warns Dr. Naras Bhat, a doctor of western medicine in the East Bay, is deleterious to your health.<\/p>\n

Bay Area Health care reporter Viji Sundaram<\/b> interviewed him in his clinic in Concord, Calif., on what is now popularly labeled as \u201cthe sitting disease.\u201d Bhat half-jestingly calls it the \u201ccurse of chairmanship.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n

SUNDARAM:<\/b> You make such statements as \u2018for every minute of sitting you do, you shave two minutes off of your life.\u201d Surely you jest?<\/i><\/p>\n

BHAT:<\/b> No, it\u2019s true. There are a slew of diseases associated with excess sitting, ranging from heart disease to obesity to stroke to cancer and even dementia. There\u2019s a body of research done on this by people like Dr. James Levine, an endocrinologist at the Mayo Clinic.<\/p>\n

\"\"
Dr. Naras Bhat at his clinic in Concord, Calif. (Viji Sundaram)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

SUNDARAM:<\/b> According to people who have studied this issue, the average American sits for eight to nine hours a day. It\u2019s even worse for people who have desk jobs.\u00a0<\/i><\/p>\n

We live here, in the proximity of Silicon Valley, where hundreds of thousands of Indians techies work in the computer industry, staring at their computer screens for hours on end. Are they causing harm to themselves?<\/i><\/p>\n

BHAT:<\/b> They put themselves at high risk of contracting what is called metabolic syndrome, which leads to abdominal obesity because a key enzyme that leads to it is rendered inactive by prolonged sitting. It\u2019s more than putting a lot of mush in your tush or developing flabby abs. To put it simply, prolonged sitting changes a person\u2019s metabolism and cardiovascular function. This is one of the key factors in early coronary disease and heart attacks among South Asians.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

It\u2019s no exaggeration when I say that the average Indian American techie sits anywhere from 8 to 10 hours a day, when you add up the time spent on sitting down to breakfast, commuting to work, then sitting at the computer, sitting down to lunch, back to the computer and then back into the car for the commute back home. Once he reaches his house, he sits down for dinner and then plops down in front of the TV for an hour or two. He then ends the day by checking his emails, also seated.<\/p>\n

SUNDARAM:<\/b> Are the risks of prolonged sitting more in one gender than in the other?<\/i><\/p>\n

BHAT:<\/b> Yes, women are at greater risk than men, and this is not a chauvinistic statement.<\/p>\n

A study<\/a> done by the American Cancer Society led by epidemiologist Alpa Patel shows that women who sit for more than even six hours a day were at a higher risk for developing a variety of cancers.<\/p>\n

Sitting causes fat to deposit around the abdomen, and that\u2019s a toxic fat, according to researchers. Fat cells release a chemical called cytokines that moves to different organs and cause disease.<\/p>\n

SUNDARAM:<\/b> So should we be hitting the gym every day and getting an hour\u2019s worth of good intense exercise?<\/i><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

BHAT:<\/b> Unfortunately, it doesn\u2019t work that way, although it\u2019s better to have a daily workout at the gym or out in the open than none at all. The best way to nullify the harmful effects of sitting disease is to move for at least 10 minutes for every hour you sit. It\u2019s called non-exercise movement, as opposed to intentional. Doing that could reverse the bad effects of prolonged sitting.<\/p>\n

There are schools in some parts of Europe where all learning is done standing. Research has shown that the more you stand, the more you learn.<\/p>\n

SUNDARAM:<\/b> Could you list some of the things people can do to reverse the harmful effects of sitting disease.<\/i><\/p>\n

BHAT:<\/b> We should set a goal of 150 minutes of moving time per day. It\u2019s very doable. Here are things you can do:<\/p>\n