Over the past few years, a cult of standing desk enthusiasts has taken over offices. Votaries' view is that standing is any day better than sitting for long hours. Some may even go to the extent of considering the feat as an exercise. But does it work?
A research involving 80,000 adults in the UK has claimed that standing desks not only may not contribute to one's overall health, but even may lead to certain bone-related conditions.
Led by University of Sydney, the study found that being on your feet for more than two hours a day may increase the risk of developing problems such as deep vein thrombosis and varicose veins.
The findings, published in the International Journal of Epidemiology, claimed that though time spent standing was not associated with higher cardiovascular disease risk, it was associated with a higher risk of orthostatic circulatory diseases like hypotension, varicose vein, chronic venous insufficiency and venous ulcers.
"The key takeaway is that standing for too long will not offset an otherwise sedentary lifestyle and could be risky for some people in terms of circulatory health.
"We found that standing more does not improve cardiovascular health over the long-term and increases the risk of circulatory issues," corresponding author for the study, Dr Matthew Ahmadi, said, according to The Guardian.
The study involved digital tracking of the movement of the more than 80,000 people part of the UK Biobank.
The study found that both sitting above 10 hours a day and standing above 2 hours a day were directly associated with increased orthostatic circulatory disease incidence risk.
Standing, however, was not associated with higher cardiovascular disease risk.
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