Exercise Can't Undo the Damage of Too Much Screen Time
Spending more than four hours a day sitting in front of a television or computer more than doubles your risk of dying from or being hospitalized for heart disease, according to a new study.
And even those who exercise can't overcome the detrimental effects of too much screen time, said study researcher Emmanuel Stamatakis, of the Department of Epidemiology and Public Health at the University College London.
OK, I spend 8 hours at work, most of which is in front of a screen, I come home and I play internet and blog. How have I survived to be 59?
Stamatakis said there are two reasons why spending leisure time in front of a screen might be associated with increased risks of dying and heart disease. One is that the type of person who sits in front of a TV for long periods of time may lead an unhealthy lifestyle in other ways as well.
Or, sitting for long periods of time could increase heart problems by inducing inflammation, he said.
Researchers found that blood levels of C-reactive protein - a marker of inflammation - was twice as high in people who spent more than four hours of time in front of a screen than people who spent less than two.
If it's true that the act of sitting is to blame, then "the findings are generalizable to those who sit and stare at a computer for eight hours a day during work," Stamatakis said.
The body needs to move around in order to break down sugars and triglycerides, said Dr. Gerald Fletcher, an American Heart Association spokesman and cardiologist at the Mayo Clinic in Florida, who was not involved with the study.
Oh yeah, put the final nail in my coffin...
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