Fitness lifestyles may be on the rise lately but they are far from winning. Very far. in a us-wide survey from a few years ago, researchers found that 59 % of americans had never in their lives participated in any vigorous physical activity lasting more than ten minutes per week. never in their lives. that’ s quite an“ achievement“, don’ t you think? if you ask what is to blame, it’ s computerization. when everything became accessible to us via computer, from entertainment and food to friends, work and social contacts, our bodies have been left on the couch to decay. and the so called sedentary lifestyle was born, a lifestyle which is harmful to our health in ways we may not fully realize.
and it’ s not just the us, if you’ re thinking about some“ fat americans” excuse right now. actually, the czech republic is the second most obese country in europe( the first is malta) and the fifth most obese country in the world, according to the world health organization’ s report from last year. obesity has more than doubled worldwide since 1980 and currently, most of the world’ s population live in countries where overweight and obesity kill more people than underweight. why? well, because with every 15 kilograms, the risk of early death increases by 30 %. migraines, depressions, diabetes, high blood pressure, cardiovascular diseases, and osteoporosis or colon cancer – these serious health risks don’ t necessarily have to be caused by obesity. they are actually very frequently caused“ just” by a sedentary lifestyle. are you sitting down for longer than six hours a day and don’ t really do sports much? well, we’ re talking about you, because you don’ t need to be overweight at all to have some serious health problems. right after you sit down, the electrical activity in your muscles slows down and your calorie-burning rate drops to one calorie per minute. this is about a third of what it does if you‘ re walking. if you sit for a full 24- hour period, you experience a 40 % reduction in glucose uptake in insulin, which can eventually cause type 2 diabetes.
when it hurts
Let’ s not talk about cancer or cardiovascular diseases, as these can be where the sedentary lifestyle ends when you don’ t do anything about it for years. Let’ s talk about how it begins, about what sitting down and crouching in front of the computer can do to you after few months. Let’ s talk about the problems of the musculoskeletal system caused by improper positioning of the body. the body is an amazing system, a fragile one but perfectly designed in order to provide support for the body parts that need support and to provide protection for the organs that need protecting. if forced into unnatural position, problems occur. if you don’ t sit straight, your head applies way too much pressure on the neck, which is the most fragile part of human skeleton. if your chair is not high enough or if it’ s too high, your knees are compensating for the difference and the joints within are significantly burdened. if you keep doing that for hours, you can’ t be surprised when the stiffness and pain start. and when the joints give up and wear down and you’ re left with an orthopaedic problem, such as degenerative joint disease, which occurs due to the loss of articular cartilage – cushioning at the end of your bones – within your joints.
what now? if you start noticing difficulties when moving or if you occasionally feel pain, don’ t wait up and visit an orthopaedist straight away as they can help you relieve both stiffness and pain during a single appointment. sometimes just the change of lifestyle helps greatly. You adopt healthier eating habits, start with regular walks and you’ re fine. sometimes, however, a medical help is needed, most frequently in a form of injection treatments. there are three types of injections, which can be recommended for you by the doctor – cortisone / steroids, hyaluronic acid or PrP( platelet rich plasma). the first type usually results in significant pain relief, which can last for a few months, as cortisone is a potent anti-inflammatory drug. the second type, injections of hyaluronic acid, moisturizes the joints in order to restore their smooth function and they improve your pain for 4 – 8 months. the third option you can ask your doctor about is a swiss dna therapy regenPlasma ®. it takes advantage of our own plasma,
BeautY in detaiL / stYLe
YOUTH CODE
SeDentaRy lifeStyle
1970 59 40 the expression“ couch potato” was INTRODUCED
PERCENT of adult Americans have never exercised for more than 10 minutes per week
PERCENT higher risk of chronic diseases apply to people sitting down longer than 6 hours a day
which can repair and regenerate cells as nothing else can.
“ In a modern orthopaedic practice PRP treatment is used to treat post-injury states and chronic tendon or fibrous pains as well as degenerative joints disease especially in bearing joints,” says dr. Filip svatoš, orthopaedic specialist of mediestetik clinic.“ There is a significant improvement of the patient’ s condition after the RegenPlasma ® therapy or even a complete disappearance of their problems in approximately 70 % cases, which is a great result.”
PrP can also be applied together with hyaluronic acid to achieve a synergic effect.“ New clinical studies show that the ultimate effect of PRP plasma treatment for degenerative joint diseases is significantly amplified by the simultaneous application of hyaluronic acid,” dr. svatoš agrees. a method combining both these substances is called regenmatrix ® and was also developed in switzerland.
PreVention matters a sedentary lifestyle cannot bring you to your knees( or to a doctor’ s office) if you don’ t let it. and the cure for prevention is surprisingly easy – stand up at least once an hour and sometime in the day get about 30 minutes of physical activity. a recent australian study suggests that short breaks from sitting once an hour can alleviate most of the problems described above. don’ t worry, this isn‘ t about working out – which you should do from time to time anyway – it‘ s about creating pockets of moderate activity throughout the day and giving your body a respite from sitting. what exactly is such moderate activity, you ask? well, it’ s equivalent to a brisk walk. You can do that, right? so get up and move a bit. Your body will be grateful.
# 5 autumn / winter 2016 23