14 DAY TRIAL // There are a whole lot of science papers out there telling us that sitting for too many hours on a daily basis makes guys and gals more vulnerable to medical conditions like diabetes, cardiovascular disease and even cancer.
In a new report, researchers with the American College of Cardiology argue that, according to their investigations into the matter, sitting need also be blamed for making people's blood vessels turn to stone.
Thus, it appears that folks who sit for one too many hours daily are more likely to develop a health condition that is known as coronary artery calcification and that has previously been shown to up the risk for heart disease.
Crash course in coronary artery calcification
The American College of Cardiology scientists behind this study say that coronary artery calcification is basically a measure of how much calcium the plaques formed inside the arteries connected to an individual's heart contain.
The more calcium they contain, the more likely to accumulate and cause narrowing of the arteries plaques are. What this means is that coronary artery calcification is an indicator of a person's risk to develop one heart disease or another.
How sitting influences coronary artery calcification
Specialists say that, having assessed the lifestyle and the overall health condition of about 2,000 adult volunteers living in the city of Dallas in Texas, US, they found that sitting too much correlates with a higher degree of coronary artery calcification.
Specifically, the researchers discovered that the volunteers who spent one too many hours of their day sitting gained an average 14% increase in coronary artery calcification burden for every 60 minutes that they rested on their behind.
Interestingly enough, this association held true even when exercise activity at the beginning or at the end of the day was factored in. Simply put, the researchers found that being active before or after work did little to help these people wipe out the negative effects of sitting for hours in a row.
Combating the negative effects of sitting
In light of their findings, the American College of Cardiology researchers recommend that people stuck in an office job do their best to get off of their behind and move even if only for a short while as often as possible. This should help reduce coronary artery calcification and heart disease risk.
“I think the study offers a promising message. Reducing the amount of time you sit by even an hour or two a day could have a significant and positive impact on your future cardiovascular health,” specialist Jacquelyn Kulinski said in a statement.