Dementia alert: Too much sitting can be harmful
California [US], August 23rd: As per the recent study conducted, people in their 60s or above who tend to have longer sitting hours and are comparatively engaged in static activities like watching TV, and other sedentary behaviors are at the increased risk of developing dementia.
The study also reveals that people who sit idle are more prone to develop dementia. The study was published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
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“It isn’t the time spent sitting, per se, but the type of sedentary activity performed during leisure time that impacts dementia risk. We know from past studies that watching TV involve low level of muscle activity and energy used compared with using a computer or reading,” said study author David Raichlen, professor of biological sciences and anthropology at the USC Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences.
Researchers had approached self-reported data of nearly 500,000 participants across the United Kingdom to scrutinize the possible relation between the dementia and static activities and more than 1,45,000 participants of 60 years of age or older self reported information about their sedentary activities during the 2006-2010 baseline examination period. These were the participants who didn’t have diagnoses of dementia.
After digging into the research for nearly 12 years, the researchers then used the hospital records of the patients to govern the dementia diagnoses and they found 3,507 positive cases. The research also indicates that the time spent watching T.V is associated with more risk of developing dementia. However, time spent using a computer could possibly be result in lesser risk of developing dementia.
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“Our findings suggest that the brain impacts sitting during our leisure activities are really separate from how physically active we are,” said Gene Alexander, professor of Psychology.
-PTC News with ANI inputs
