And that rose with every further hour people sat said Wellington physician Richard Beasley, who led the study by the New Zealand Medical Research Institute. Seated immobility thromboembolism – or SIT, as it is termed –was first recognised during World War 2 when people died from blood clots after sitting in deck chairs in air raid shelters during the London Blitz.
But the risks of prolonged sitting went largely unrecognised nowadays, Professor Beasley said. The findings were similar to the better-known traveller’s thrombosis, where both the duration of the flight and immobility during the flight have been shown to be associated with an increased risk of DVT and PE. Beasley urged people who commonly sit for long periods at computer to do frequent leg and foot exercises and take regular breaks. The study, of 197 Wellington and Kenepuru patients, was funded by ACC and published in the UK Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine.
