Can sitting less decrease your risk of heart disease?
The following article, written by Gautam Ramesh, Andrea LaCroix, and John Bellettiere, was originally published on February 25, 2019 in The Conversation. You can read the original article here. Too much sitting has long been criticized for contributing to premature mortality, Type 2 diabetes, and a host of other illnesses. In a new study of 5,638 women, we looked at how sedentary behavior was related to future cardiovascular disease (CVD). The results showed that those who were most sedentary had the highest risk for having a future CVD event. We also found that women who most often interrupted their sedentary time to stand up and move had significantly lower risk for CVD than women who sat for long stretches of time without standing up. The results persisted even after accounting for other common factors linked with CVD such as age, overall health, blood pressure and cholesterol. CVD includes heart attacks, strokes, heart failure and other diseases concerning the heart and blood vessels. It is the leading cause of death in the U.S., accounting for 1 in 4 deaths annually. Our findings, along with the research discussed below, provides strong evidence that sitting too much is an important factor to consider for heart…
