Just when you thought it was bad for you to stay seated at work, a new study published in the American Journal of Epidemiology has found that people who primarily stand over the course of a workday are twice as likely to develop heart disease as people who mostly sit down. The study, which tracked the health of 7,000 Canadians over a 12-year period, also found that workers who stand on the job have a higher risk of heart disease (6.6 percent) than smokers (5.8 percent), and are only slightly less at risk than those people suffering from obesity (6.9 percent).
According to researchers, standing for prolonged periods of time — like you might do at your fancy standing desk — forces your heart to work harder, as it has to counteract the effects of gravity and drive pooling blood from your legs back up through your body.
Now that we can’t stand or sit at the office, maybe we should work hanging upside down?
A few of the other things we learned about our bodies today:
- Having sex doggy-style is the most “dangerous” way to bone down, leading to 41 percent of all penile fractures. Yes, penile fractures are a very real, very painful thing.
- Thanks to advances in artificial intelligence, researchers might soon be able to diagnose Alzheimer’s 10 years before our memories begin to fade.
- Whatever you do, don’t tell your kids how smart they are.
- Picture your problems. Now picture someone else suffering from them. Feel better? Imagining yourself in the third person might be the key to alleviating stress.
- Here’s more proof that living a long life means eating vegetables with every meal.
- Guys love crying in public more than women.
- Remember how we told you standing at work is killing you? Sitting down is killing you, too.
Jeff Gross
Jeff Gross is MEL’s senior editor for social media and content marketing. His daily ICYMI column, which chronicles all things meta on the site, is the quickest way to catch up on MEL, and the funniest thing you’ll read all day. Follow him on Twitter.
