More evidence that sitting may raise cardiovascular disease risk
Many scientists and healthcare professionals describe sitting as a scourge of modern health. However, this a thing that many people do both at the job and leisure.
A previous study of practically 6,000 persons in the U.S. aged over 18 found that 1 in 4 persons sat for more than 8 hours a day.
Published in JAMA and predicated on data collected in the National Health insurance and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the analysis found only 3% of respondents sat significantly less than 4 hours a day and were active.
Now a new study, appearing in the Journal of the American Heart Association, has viewed the sitting habits of postmenopausal women with overweight and obesity. The ladies were aged about 55 and older.
In this observational study, the researchers analyzed the info as a single group. They also split it into two ethnic groups - Hispanic and one non-Hispanic - to see if total sitting time varied by group and how this impacted cardiovascular disease risk.
“Historically, cardiovascular disease in women has been understudied, not surprisingly being the main reason behind death in women,” said lead author Dr. Dorothy Sears of Arizona State University College of Health Solutions in Phoenix, speaking to Medical News Today.
A third of women will die from heart disease
“1 in 3 women will die from cardiovascular disease,” said Sears. “Older women will be the fastest-growing population in the U.S., and after menopause, [they] experience a dramatic upsurge in risk for cardiometabolic diseases, such as coronary disease and type 2 diabetes.”
For this reason, it is critical to understand how behaviors impact this risk. Evidence is mounting that prolonged sitting is not only prevalent but linked to heart disease and mortality risks, especially in older adults.
“Thus, postmenopausal women [with overweight or obesity] who partake in prolonged sitting time likely have highly compounded cardiometabolic risk,” said Sears.
The study viewed 518 women with a mean age of 63 and an average body mass index (BMI) of 31 kilograms per meter squared (kg/m²). The classification of obesity is a BMI of over 30 kg/m².
The ladies wore a device that tracked their sitting and exercise over 2 weeks and underwent a blood test to measure their blood sugar and insulin resistance.
Exercise will not negate risk
Researchers found that, on average, the women who were not Hispanic sat for more than 9 hours a day, weighed against typically 8.5 hours a day by their Hispanic peers.
The researchers found links between prolonged sitting and greater BMI and waist measurements, in addition to higher fasting blood sugar, insulin, triglycerides, and insulin resistance. Most of these are factors in the chance of heart disease and stroke.
The strength of the findings surprised the researchers.
“I expected that there will be some association between sitting time and insulin resistance but didn't expect such a strong magnitude of effect.”
- Dorothy Sears
Researchers discovered that every additional hour of sitting time per day led to more than a 7% upsurge in insulin resistance, and each additional a quarter-hour of uninterrupted sitting saw an almost 9% upsurge in insulin resistance, typically.
Not only that, however the magnitude of the links changed hardly any when researchers controlled the participants’ degrees of exercise.
“Evidence from our study, and that of others, show that prolonged sitting time is a cardiometabolic health risk, independent of exercise,” said Sears.
“Clinicians and other healthcare providers should inspire [people] to lessen their sitting time, total daily sitting time, and uninterrupted bouts of sitting, furthermore to encouraging exercise,” she said.
Other studies advise that replacing sitting time with standing or light activity may promote health in the elderly.
“Accumulating evidence suggests that sitting time interruptions ought to be practiced during the day and need not be high intensity or long in duration.”
- Dorothy Sears
The study also discovered that despite spending less total time sitting a day and for shorter uninterrupted periods, Hispanic women saw a far more pronounced impact on blood sugar.
The results showed that for each and every additional 15 minutes of uninterrupted sitting, Hispanic women saw a 5% increase in fasting blood sugar when compared to other women in the analysis, who saw simply a 1% increase.
However, Sears said researchers have to corroborate this finding with a more extensive multi-ethnic study.
Source: www.medicalnewstoday.com
