'Extreme Sitting' For More Than 10 Hours A Day Linked To Heart Disease

By Kathryn Doyle (Reuters Health) – Being sedentary, at least in moderation, is unlikely to cause heart disease, according to a new review of past research. Based on their analysis, researchers conclude that only very high levels of sedentary time ― more than 10 hours per day ― are linked to an increased risk of heart attack, stroke or heart disease-related death. Compared to sitting for less than three of one’s waking hours each day, more than 10 hours of sedentary time was tied to an 8 percent increase in risk for developing heart disease. “Our findings suggest that sedentary time is associated with increased risk of cardiovascular disease, independent of other potential risk factors such as body mass index and physical activity, only at very high levels,” said lead author Dr. Ambarish Pandey of the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas. It hadn’t been clear exactly how much sedentary time should be avoided to lower cardiovascular disease risk, Pandey told Reuters Health by email. The researchers analyzed data from nine long-term studies that had followed more than 700,000 adults and calculated the association between their inactive time and their incidence of events like heart attack and stroke. “Sedentary time” included any low-activity periods, like sitting, watching TV or driving. Half of the studies followed people for more than 11 years. In total there were 25,769 unique cardiovascular events. People wh...
Source: Healthy Living - The Huffington Post - Category: Consumer Health News Source Type: news