Prolonged sitting puts you at the risk of Cancer

By Dr. Vikas Goswami 

Nobody really knows till that sitting for longer period of time may puts you at the risk of deadly disease called Cancer. Basically everyone is working with a desk job which requires your concentration at your computer or laptops. But the latest research by the American Institute for Cancer Research (AICR) shows a direct link between sitting for prolonged hours and chaotic cell growth. The exact medical connections are still being studied, but doctors presume that approximately 80,000 cancer cases each year can be attributed to inactivity from long hours spent at a desk. 

Strange we never thought so. People who are mostly sitting are majorly at risk and even those who work out regularly are not excluded from the risks of cancer. 

But why sitting causes cancer? 

A person approximately spends 16 hours in a day of activity which includes office work, travelling and real physical workout; out of which 30 minutes of physical work out constitutes of only 3% to 4% of the day’s workout. The other 15½ hours puts you to cancer risk significantly. 

Cancer risk increases even further when long periods of sitting idle lead to obesity or weight gain and obese people are more prone to cancer. A desk bound job causes increased inflammation, which contributes to cancer risk. 

Let’s have a look at some of the preventive measures to curb cancer growth:  

Being obese puts you at the risk of cancer

By Dr. Vikas Goswami 

Obesity is a condition in which a person has an abnormally high and unhealthy proportion of body fat. Obesity is diagnosed by a number called the Body Mass Index (BMI), which calculates the amount of body fat. Your BMI is calculated from your current height and weight. The higher the BMI the more body fat a person has. 

According to a study published in the noted Lancet, India is just behind US & China in this global hazard list of top 10 countries with the highest number of obese people. India is truly under siege: junk food, alcohol & sedentary lifestyle are leading us to silent self destruction, making one in every Indian men & women either obese or overweight. Experts believe obesity has to do with the lifestyle issues of the major population in urban India. The urban populace has easy access to high-calorie packaged foods such as burgers, chips and colas. Moreover, people in cities follow a sedentary lifestyle. Little or no physical activity and a predilection for gizmos such as video games, computers are to blame. 

Extra fat in the body can have harmful effects, like producing hormones and growth factors that affect the way our cells work. This can raise the risk of several diseases, including cancer. The higher the BMI, the higher the risk of cancer. 

A recent study conducted by WHO's International Agency for Cancer on Research (IARC), reveals that excess body weight puts you at the risk of various types of cancer such as