Sitting for long periods of time can increase cancer risk, says US study

Nine Filipinos are diagnosed with cancer every hour, according to data from the Department of Health (2009), Philippine Cancer Society (2010) and World Health Organization (2010).

There are several cancer risk factors, from genetic to lifestyle to environment.

Now a new American study seems to have discovered another risk factor for at least two kinds of cancer: sitting for long periods of time, as shown in a report on GMA News' "News To Go" on Tuesday.



The study, published in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute, showed that people who remain seated for a long period of time have higher risks of developing certain types of cancer: colon, endometrial and lung cancer.

According to Forbes' report on the study, too much sitting is linked to a 24 percent higher risk of colon cancer and a 32 percent higher risk of getting endometrial cancer. Furthermore, for every two-hour increase in one's sitting time overall, the cancer risk rose 8 percent for colon cancer, 6 percent for lung cancer and 10 percent for endometrial cancer.

Forbes said that even active people increase their cancer risk if they sit for too long, so it is not just a sedentary lifestyle that increases the risk of developing cancer, but something inherent in the act of too much sitting.

Fitness and sports science expert Chappy Callanta said that there are already identified effects of sitting down for too long.

 "Your systems start to slow down. Your systems think that you're actually at rest and then that slows down your metabolism. Along with that, there is breakdown of bad cells," he said.

Sitting for long stretches of time also affects your muscles, he said.

"When you're in this position, hunched position for a long period of time, imagine the stress that your muscles go through, imagine yung spine mo, it gets bent, it gets out of alignment," Callanta said.

So how are people supposed to avoid increasing their cancer risk, seeing as many work in offices, seated for hours?

The report suggested stacking boxes on top of each other to elevate what you're working on so that you could stand while at work. Another suggestion is to get up often, walk around and do some stretching exercises to work your muscles. — Janelle Cosino/BM, GMA News