Breast Cancer Risk Increased by Sitting for a Long Time

A sudy, recently published in the journal Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers and Prevention, has discovered that there is an increased risk of cancer for women who are always sitting. 

According to a press release by the American Cancer Society, the study found that the risk of cancer increased by 10 percent in women who spent long periods of time sitting.

The increased risk was specifically linked to breast, ovarian, and multiple myeloma cancers, reports Examiner. The research also differentiates between sitting and a sedentary lifestyle, which could have a different set of negative side effects.

According to Cancer Therapy Advisor,  over 146,000 men and women, who were initially cancer-free, participated in the study. The volunteers had enrolled themselves into the American Cancer Society Cancer Prevention Study II Nutrition Cohort, which was conducted from 1992 to 2009.

Around 18,500 men out of 69, 260 were diagnosed with cancer by the end of the research, while about 12,000 women were diagnosed out of 77,462.

After taking into account each individual's daily physical activity, BMI and other health factors, researchers found that prolonged leisure time spent sitting significantly increased the risk of site-specific cancer in women.

For the men diagnosed with cancer, there was no found link between the development of the disease and sitting, according to Science World Report. 

The authors of the study concluded: "Longer leisure-time spent sitting was associated with higher risk of total cancer risk in women...but sitting time was not associated with cancer risk in men. Further research is warranted to better understand the differences in associations between men and women."

Due to multiple factors, including technological advancements like computers, society's sitting time has increased overall. Scientists have just recently started to study the effects of sitting in relations to health.

According to University Herald, there are some studies that have associated a low physical lifestyle with negative outcomes, which can range from heart disease to death.

In terms of sitting, there is evidence that adult life expectancy can increase by two years if people limited their sitting time to just three hours everyday.

Stella S. Yi, lead author of a study which focused on the adverse affects of sitting on the health status of New York City residents, said: "Interventions for decreasing sitting time in the work site and home are needed to improve health outcomes across all groups—not just those identified as having the longest sitting times," she said.