Your Chair Killing You?

From: http://www.pivotphysicaltherapy.com/blog/sitting-is-the-new-smoking/

From: http://www.pivotphysicaltherapy.com/blog/sitting-is-the-new-smoking/

Whether we are stuck in class, watching a movie, or driving, we are all glued to the bottom of our seats. I can attest to it. Sitting has been a quintessential and unavoidable part of my day. It is universal that anything in excess is bad for you. In a recent publication by Dr James Levine, who is the director of the Mayo Clinic at Arizona State University, he states that “Sitting is more dangerous than smoking, kills more people than HIV and is more treacherous than parachuting. We are sitting ourselves to death.” (James Levine) I decided to investigate further into the topic. How bad is excessive sitting?

From my the top searches off my research, there is little controversy that sitting has a negative effect on the body. An article I found that was particularly intriguing is listed here. In this article, the author stated that sitting can cause heath problems (heart disease, cancer, death) regardless if the individual was physically active. A study in which she lists that supports her point was conducted by Annals of Internal Medicine. In the study, the researchers used prior research from a database. This already rings a bell that this study could be a file drawer problem! No physical experiment was done! Despite my suspicions, the article goes on and concludes that “the health hazards seem to be greatest for people who sit 8 or 9 hours a day. The impact was even more pronounced in people who did not exercise regularly.” (CBS News) Despite the research’s strong conclusion that sitting correlates with health problems, I find it hard to believe whether the researchers excluded any results that disprove of their claim. Also, there was no numeric results in which can support their claim while eliminating confounding variables, including the amount of sitting and the subject’s health prior to being checked. Thus, I feel this article should be noted, but is flawed without doubt.

Another research I found that I found similar to the previous listed is published by the Journal of the National Cancer Institute. The observational study included 43 studies in which they analyzed 68936 cancer cases, comparing the time spent sitting in relation cancer risks. (Daniela Schmid) Though it was not an actual experiment, rather, a observational study through cases, I do believe this study was well conducted. The results show “not all of those investigations found an apparent adverse effect of prolonged sitting time on cancer incidence.” (Daniela Schmid) Despite the fact that some cancers did not have an effect and rejected it’s null hypothesis, the study still published the results. This study definitely made me think about the dangers of sitting. There is definitely a correlation between sitting and health risks, but can reverse causality be considered? Perhaps sick and unhealthy people are sitting more! What if their disease impairs physical motivation through pain? I find credibility in reverse causality through personal observation: Obese people sit more due to the stress that their weight inflicts upon their knees. Certain people that are physically impaired cannot sit due to their condition. Another variable I find when people sit is snacking. Think about the food consumed during a sports event, Super Bowl, or plain studying. There is no loophole: overeating is bad. Can it be that the overeating of junk food is actually causing cancer?

How I would conduct my experiment: I noticed how I disagreed with both studies listed in their use of databases rather than conducting research. As I thought of a solution that is effective, I noticed how important it is to use randomized controlled trials, especially for this topic. However, it struck me as to how difficult and feasible it is. In a perfect world where no harm is inflicted, I would have human subjects while regulating how much sitting they are required to do within each day. I would also look at their diets, overall health, and sleeping time. After a certain time, I will see if there is any health problems that arose to the subjects that sat for the time assigned. However, my trial would will not reflect ethics. I am deliberately forcing my healthy subjects to get health problems, which is morally wrong.

Should I never sit again? Though it seems like every research is pointing towards the idea that sitting causes health problems, all the conclusions are not concrete. The research did not consider reverse causality. However, if the research does hold true, what can we do? A research conducted by scientists from Indiana University concluded that “by taking three slow, five-minute walks, we can actually reverse the damage to our arteries caused by three hours of sitting down.” (Science Alert) In this controlled observational study, they had 6 non-obese men sit normally for 3 hours. The other 6 men were assigned the same task, but had to get up and take slow-five minute walks for three times on a treadmill. Ultrasound was then used to see if there were any dilation in their arteries and changes in blood flow. To much surprise, the men who sat for three hours had a dilation of half compared to the start of the study. Also they experiences a drop in their blood flow. Those who took the walks did not experience any change in their artery dilation nor blood flow in comparison to the beginning of the experiment. Although the sample size hold problems, I think the results are something we should take note of.

Take home message: Every research seems to point that sitting correlates with health problems. Though I did not find a randomized control trial and the risks of reverse causality is present, we should all take notice in the noticeable physical damages prolong sitting causes. (Jeanne Dorin)

sit

All in all, everything should be done in moderation, and sitting is no different. To counter our daily activities that require us to sit (school, eating, movies) we should also find time to exercise and be physically active.

Works Cited