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For those of you who work, spending too long in front of the computer has certainly become a common thing, especially during the work from home (WFH) COVID-19 pandemic. However, without realizing it, this habit actually has a bad impact on your health. Let’s check out the review!
Effects of spending too long in front of the computer
Do you have a job that requires you to sit in front of a computer all day? If so, it’s likely that you don’t realize that such a job makes your body unhealthy.
You need to know that if you sit for too long, it will bring several health problems and disrupt the metabolic system.
In the long run, prolonged sitting increases your risk of serious illness. Here are some diseases that will arise when you still continue the habit of sitting too long in front of the computer as reported by invorma.com:
1. Body posture
Sitting for too long will increase the risk of developing various posture-related diseases. This disorder will not appear in a short period of time but will appear over many years of doing the same thing.
Some of the disorders that you will feel are excessive pain in the neck and shoulders, the spine will also be affected because the spine continues to support the body when you sit too long.
2. CVS syndrome
This syndrome is also known as CVS or Computer Vision Syndrome. This is due to the focus and movement of the eyes in only one direction.
Not only that, usually those of you who experience CVS do these activities repeatedly for a long time, namely staring at a computer screen.
Symptoms that you will feel include eye strain, excessive headaches, blurred vision, and an inability to focus on objects that are far away.
3. Heart attack
The first adverse effect of sitting for too long is that it can increase the risk of heart attack and other heart defects. When you sit for too long, your body will respond by slowing down the metabolic process.
Then the blood flow in the body is also disturbed because it flows slowly so that the muscles cannot help to burn calories in your body.
Of course, due to such a process, fat will clog the muscles and blood vessels. When you do these activities for a long time, the amount of fat in the blood vessels can lead to a heart attack.
Men or women who sit for more than 10 hours per day will have a high risk of heart attack. So, it is highly recommended that you avoid or reduce your chances of having a heart attack by moving from your chair for at least 30 minutes per day.
4. Numbness
Sitting for too long will make your body numb. This is because sitting for too long can disrupt the nervous system and create uncomfortable conditions. Of course, it will bring problems for health in the long run.
But don’t worry, you can prevent it by drinking enough water as it will make you urinate and walk to the toilet. Standing up every 30 minutes is also recommended to prevent diseases caused by prolonged sitting.
5. Cancer
Reporting from invorma.com, according to current research, it has been proven that sitting for too long will increase the risk of developing breast, cervical and bowel cancer. The risk of developing this cancer is higher because the body is less active, which reduces the ability of antioxidants.
Low insulin production and faster growth of unhealthy cells are also factors that trigger cancer. Therefore, moving your body from the chair a little is necessary to restore the body’s condition to fight cancer.
Read also: Be Wary, This is the New Variant of COVID-19 that Appeared in China
How to prevent
Some of the diseases above can indeed attack anyone. The risk is doubled for you workers. But there are still ways to prevent these diseases from occurring.
1. Give your eyes a rest
When you sit in front of a computer for a long time, your eyes tend to blink less than the usual two to three times. Of course, this will make your eyes dry.
In fact, when you blink more often, it is very good for eye health because it makes tears wet all parts of the sense of vision. Therefore, try to close your eyes for a few moments when you feel tired.
2. Computer light reflection
One of the other factors that make your eyes get tired quickly is the reflected light from the computer. Therefore, it is highly recommended for you to set the lighting that you feel is safe for your eyes.
3. Computer location
You should also start organizing your sitting position and computer properly. The best position for the computer is about 50-70 cm from the face. This is so that you can stretch your neck and eyes so that they are not too tense.
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