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We already know that exercising or simply being physically active in our day to day lives can greatly increase our general health and allow us to achieve longevity. What we don’t know, however, is that sitting down can actually be linked to one disease in particular.
A study conducted by a team of Dutch researchers reveals how chances of diabetes increase in people with a sedentary lifestyle.
The authors of the study have found that every single hour we spend sitting down can increase our chances of developing type 2 diabetes by a whopping 22%. This means we could be either sitting at a computer or lying down on a sofa in front of the TV.
Whatever the situation may be, the conclusion is simple: the more time we spend in an inactive position, the greater our chances of getting type 2 diabetes.
Having studied people who are already suffering from type 2 diabetes, the researchers have concluded that a diabetic person generally spends around 26 minutes more in a sedentary position than a person who is not suffering from this disease.
Julianne van der Berg, the lead researcher of this group, states that for the time being there is no clear cause-effect correlation between the two, but it is certainly a starting point for a further analysis on this topic.
Type 2 is the most common form of diabetes, accounting for up to 90-95% of all the diagnosed cases of diabetes in the world. The statistics are frightening to say the least.
in 2017 the International Diabetes Federation’s Diabetes Atlas estimated that one in every 11 adults has diabetes and that every six seconds someone in the world dies from diabetes.
By 2040, IDF believes that this number will only increase, with one in ten adults developing diabetes. Overall, around 12% of the global health expenditure is used for treating diabetes.
What is distressing, on the other hand, is that aside from all these registered cases, there are still many more people suffering from this condition, who remain undiagnosed and unaware of it. This makes the importance of studies like this all the more important, since it represents a way for people to become aware of the preventive measures they can take.
Dr. Joel Zonszein, director of the Clinical Diabetes Center at Montefiore Medical Center states that even though there are multiple factors that could influence the development of this disease (such as a genetic predisposition), an unbalanced diet and inactivity will greatly increase the chances of developing it in the future.
Image Source: Chron
