Four Things You Need to Know About Sitting Disease

Four Things You Need to Know About Sitting Disease

Have you ever heard of sitting disease? It’s a relatively new term and condition, but it is wreaking havoc on the health of Americans. At Vitality Precision Chiropractic, our Rochester Hills chiropractors are passionate about educating the community about healthy habits and optimizing their spinal health, and so we want to shed some light on sitting disease. Here are four things you need to know.

Sitting Disease Is About a Sedentary Lifestyle

Living a sedentary lifestyle is defined as being active for fewer than three hours per day. If you fall into this category, you’re well on your way to sitting disease. It’s essentially an umbrella term that covers the implications of living an inactive lifestyle.

Your Activity Level Outside of Sitting Is Kind of Irrelevant

This is one of the craziest things about sitting disease—it doesn’t matter what you’re doing in those three hours of activity per day. You could be running non-stop, doing CrossFit, or wrestling alligators—moving for fewer than three hours per day brings about the same implications on your health no matter what you do during your active time. This means that gym rats who work out religiously for 2 hours per day but sit the entire rest of the day are not free from the dangers of sitting disease.

Sitting Disease Leads to Tons of Chronic Illnesses

Did you know that America spends twice as much money on healthcare as any other country but is still ranked first in chronic diseases, obesity, and diabetes? The CDC has claimed that nearly 40% of the top five causes of death are preventable, largely with diet and exercise changes. But still, around 54% of kids are diagnosed with a chronic disease, and around 60% of adults are diagnosed with a chronic illness that they will likely never recover from. Many of these illnesses are linked to sedentary lifestyles, such as heart disease, cancer, chronic lower respiratory disease, stroke, diabetes, varicose veins, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, and more.

Your Spine Plays a Role in Sedentary Lifestyle Health Challenges

Living a sedentary lifestyle clearly affects your health negatively because of the lack of movement and exercise. But sitting itself can cause problems in your spine, and those problems then lead to more problems. Even if you have great posture, when you sit for long periods of time, your necessary spinal curves (the ones that go front to back and can be seen from the side) are impacted, making them either too curved or not curved enough. Your body longs for balance, so improper posture pulls your muscles and spinal vertebrae out of alignment, putting pressure on the spinal cord and impeding the function of your central nervous system.

It’s clear that sitting disease is a dangerous thing, and it needs to be addressed. Do what you can to stay active and move frequently throughout the day, and be sure to visit your Rochester Hills chiropractors, Dr. Brendan Shanahan and Dr. Thomas Madigan, for additional support in improving your health. Contact the team at Vitality Precision Chiropractic today to learn more and schedule an appointment.