honey
05-23-2006, 08:12 PM
Computer users, stand up!
Posted Tue, 11 Feb 2003
http://cooltech.iafrica.com/cm_pics/technology/12-248-0-0_165175.jpg
Here’s some more ammunition as to why sitting in front of a computer for hours on end is bad for you: it could kill you. Doctors say that sitting for long hours at a computer terminal may have the same effect as taking a long-haul flight in cramped seating — it could cause a fatal blood clot.
It’s a malady that’s been likened to “economy class syndrome” and the story has the same moral: exercise your limbs or risk suffering the effects of deep vein thrombosis.
New Zealand researchers have dubbed the condition "eThrombosis".
In the first known case of "eThrombosis", a 32-year-old New Zealand man who spent up to 18 hours at his computer suffered a massive blood clot that caused him to black out.
"(The blood clot) broke off and traveled to his lung, which obstructed the blood flow into his lung, which made him very sick, obviously," said Richard Beasley, a professor at the Medical Research Institute of New Zealand, in an interview with Wired.com. Beasly co-authored a paper on the incident in the European Respiratory Journal.
Wired.com reports that the only cause of the clot the researchers could find was the man's habit of sitting in front of the computer without moving for long periods of time.
Stephan Moll, director of the thrombophilia program at the University of North Carolina, is following two similar cases in the United States.
"It's just immobility, which we know is a risk factor for blood clots," Moll said.
Deep vein thrombosis (DVT) as a result of prolonged sitting has appeared throughout history. It was first recognised during the Blitz in World War II, when cases of fatal embolisms emerged among Londoners who sat for long periods in deckchairs in air-raid shelters.
Beasly writes that in the 1950s, prolonged car trips, airplane flights and even attending the theatre were linked to DVT. The recent cases are essentially nothing new — it’s a known problem perpetuated by the prevalence of computers in many people's lives.
Posted Tue, 11 Feb 2003
http://cooltech.iafrica.com/cm_pics/technology/12-248-0-0_165175.jpg
Here’s some more ammunition as to why sitting in front of a computer for hours on end is bad for you: it could kill you. Doctors say that sitting for long hours at a computer terminal may have the same effect as taking a long-haul flight in cramped seating — it could cause a fatal blood clot.
It’s a malady that’s been likened to “economy class syndrome” and the story has the same moral: exercise your limbs or risk suffering the effects of deep vein thrombosis.
New Zealand researchers have dubbed the condition "eThrombosis".
In the first known case of "eThrombosis", a 32-year-old New Zealand man who spent up to 18 hours at his computer suffered a massive blood clot that caused him to black out.
"(The blood clot) broke off and traveled to his lung, which obstructed the blood flow into his lung, which made him very sick, obviously," said Richard Beasley, a professor at the Medical Research Institute of New Zealand, in an interview with Wired.com. Beasly co-authored a paper on the incident in the European Respiratory Journal.
Wired.com reports that the only cause of the clot the researchers could find was the man's habit of sitting in front of the computer without moving for long periods of time.
Stephan Moll, director of the thrombophilia program at the University of North Carolina, is following two similar cases in the United States.
"It's just immobility, which we know is a risk factor for blood clots," Moll said.
Deep vein thrombosis (DVT) as a result of prolonged sitting has appeared throughout history. It was first recognised during the Blitz in World War II, when cases of fatal embolisms emerged among Londoners who sat for long periods in deckchairs in air-raid shelters.
Beasly writes that in the 1950s, prolonged car trips, airplane flights and even attending the theatre were linked to DVT. The recent cases are essentially nothing new — it’s a known problem perpetuated by the prevalence of computers in many people's lives.