Commerical Drive - East Vancouver Chiropractor; Dr. Dominic Chan DC - "Sitting Too Much May Be Killing You"

This is a very interesting study that came out this week from the University of Sydney in Australia. Now what I find very impressive about this study is the number of participants involved; according to the study, over 220,000 people over the age of 45! That is a staggering amount of people involved in this study using self-reported data.

The findings included a sharp increase in the risk of death after more than 11 hours of daily sitting was reported. These numbers were compared to the risk of death for people who sat for less than 4 hours/day and those who sat between 8-11 hours/day. The researchers found that those who sat more than 11 hours/day had a 15% increased chance of death in the following 3 years compared to those who sat between 8-11hours. However, the shocking result was that compared to those who sat for less than 4 hours/day, the increased chance of death shot up to 40% for the 11 plus hours group. 

 "The evidence on the detrimental health effects of prolonged sitting has been building over the last few years," said study author Hidde van der Ploeg, a senior research fellow at the University of Sydney. "The study stands out because of its large number of participants and the fact that it was one of the first that was able to look at total sitting time. Most of the evidence to date had been on the health risks of prolonged television viewing."

This study appeared in the March 26 edition of the Archives of Internal Medicine. Some background would also be helpful in relation to this article. Of the over 220,000 Australian participants in this study, about 62% considered themselves to be overweight or obese. This number is very close to North Americans as well. As mentioned before, the participants were also over the age of 45. With the huge global concern regarding chronic illnesses that only increase with time, the age of the participants is also important. 

After reviewing this article, a word of caution is warranted here. As the authors also noted, this study does not provide a 'smoking gun', cause and effect relationship between increased sitting time and death. However, other factors may also come into play. For instance, perhaps people who sit for more than 11 hours/day are simply less active and have increased cardiovascular risk factors than those who sit for less than 4 hours/day. Perhaps it's the other 'factors' that are contributing to their increased mortality? 

But I think it's fair to say that sitting for more than 11 hours/day is clearly unhealthy for your health. I would even venture to say that it's common sense. Having  a sedentary lifestyle is harmful to your health. Period. Now if the myriad of health problems associated with a sedentary lifestyle weren't enough, isn't the increased chance of death enough to get you moving? Something to think about and take to heart. 

Come visit your COMMERCIAL DRIVE - EAST VANCOUVER CHIROPRACTOR or visit the website here; COMMERCIAL DRIVE - EAST VANCOUVER CHIROPRACTOR; DR. DOMINIC CHAN DC!!!!

Commercial Drive - East Vancouver Chiropractor; Dr. Dominic Chan DC - "Family Doctors are Finally Catching Up"

A report published online last Thursday from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in the US found that more and more doctors are recommending exercise to their patients. The report found that in 2010, about one in three people (32.4%) who had seen their doctor, had been advised to take up or continue regular physical activity. The report noted that this was a huge improvement from 2000 when just under one in four patients (22.6%) received the same advice.


The report also revealed some surprising information. For example, adults who were 85 or older were about twice as likely to be advised to exercise regularly than the same age group just 10 years ago. However, the age group that was still most likely to receive the recommendation of regular exercise were people between the ages of 45 -74. The report also found that other health issues increased the likelihood of being recommended daily exercise. Chronic illnesses such as cardiovascular disease or diabetes, increased the chances of a doctor advising you to take up exercise. 


The results in this report are not surprising at all. With increasing longevity and the rates of chronic diseases, like diabetes on the rise, doctors are recognizing the importance of exercise. Increasing a person's activity levels has numerous health benefits. Decreasing blood pressure, controlling weight, improving aerobic capacity, helping to control blood sugar, improving muscle tone and improving vitality are only some of the benefits. 

However, what's perplexing is when you scrutinize this report deeper, you realize that almost 70% of people who are in contact with their doctor, are not recommended exercise. That's right, with everything we know about the benefits of exercise, most people are never advised to take up regular activity!! As a Chiropractor practicing a health care option that does not rely on pharmaceuticals, we have to encourage our patients to adopt a different perspective. I can speak from my own experience that every patient of mine, in fact from the very first visit, is advised to stretch and exercise! I have only encountered a handful of patients where maybe exercise was not advised from the beginning. But instead, stretching and breathing exercise were encouraged until the patient was physically able to do more, for example going for walks.


The moral of the story is, exercise and regular physical is so beneficial and crucial to your overall health. Only a miniscule fraction of society may be unable to exercise but believe me, this group is very small indeed. Everyone else should be engaging in regular activity and the best thing is; it's Free! Knowing what doctors and other health professionals know about exercise and how it can improve health, I feel it is a disservice to our patients if we don't recommend regular exercise to everyone. So the question remains, "....what's taking so long???"


If you have a comment about this article, let me hear from you. Or if you're in the Commercial Drive neighborhood of East Vancouver visit my office or website here; COMMERCIAL DRIVE - EAST VANCOUVER CHIROPRACTOR; DR. DOMINIC CHAN DC