Standing at work can actually be detrimental to blood pressure: Study

Prolonged standing at work had a negative impact on blood pressure and in contrast spending more time sitting at work was associated with better BP a new study has revealedThe Finnish study from University of Turku published in the journal Medicine amp Science in Sports amp Exercise suggests that activity behaviour during working hours may be more relevant to 24hour blood pressure than recreational physical activityldquoRather than any single measurement 24hour blood pressure is a better indication of how blood pressure stresses the heart and blood vessels throughout the day and nightrdquo says doctoral researcher Jooa NorhaIf blood pressure is slightly high throughout the day and does not fall sufficiently even at night blood vessels start to stiffen and the heart has to work harder to cope with the increased pressureldquoOver the years this can lead to the development of cardiovascular diseaserdquo Norha addedIn the Finnish Retirement and Aging study FIREA conducted at the University of Turku the physical activity of municipal employees approaching retirement age was measured using thighworn accelerometers during working hours leisure time and days offIn addition the research participants used a portable blood pressure monitor that automatically measured their blood pressure every 30 minutes for 24 hoursThe results confirm previous findings that physical activity at work can be harmful to the heart and circulatory systemIn particular prolonged standing can raise blood pressure as the body boosts circulation to the lower limbs by constricting blood vessels and increasing the pumping power of the heartldquoA standing desk can provide a nice change from sitting at the office but too much standing can be harmful Its a good idea to take a break from standing during the work day either by walking every half an hour or sitting for some parts of the dayrdquo Norha saidIn addition the results of the study suggest that sedentary work in itself is not necessarily harmful to blood pressure Instead researchers stress the importance of recreational physical activity for both office and construction workersThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever