Feb. 9, 2000
CHRONIC DISEASE ON THE RISE DUE TO AMERICAN SEDENTARY LIFESTYLE, MU RESEARCHERS CONCLUDE
COLUMBIA, Mo. -- A silent epidemic has been slowly taking over the country during the past century. As Americans' lives have been helped by technology, their cardiovascular health has been harmed. In an article published in this month's issue of the Journal of Applied Physiology, on newsstands Friday, researchers from the University of Missouri-Columbia reveal comprehensive, alarming statistics to support this correlation.
"Currently, 250,000 premature deaths and $1 trillion in health care costs can be attributed to the American sedentary lifestyle each year," said Frank Booth, professor and research investigator in MU's College of Veterinary Medicine. "This lifestyle, which has become increasingly more prevalent in the past century, results in a metabolic state that is linked to at least 17 chronic diseases and other health conditions. Since 1900 there has been a 29-fold increase in heart disease deaths, compounded in the past 40 years by a six-fold increase in diabetes and a two-fold increase in obesity."
In the article, Booth and his co-authors point to society's increasing use of labor-saving devices and other technologies as the cause of a myriad of health problems. "Technology has made our lives increasingly easier in the past 100 years. We drive cars instead of walking. We ride elevators instead of walking up stairs. We don't even have to shop for groceries any more; we can do this online. The effects of computers and other technologies on our lives have been positive, but it hasn't been good for our health," Booth said.
To combat this trend, Booth calls for "primary prevention," which requires attacking the environmental roots of these conditions, and a conceptual change among exercise biologists. Even though physical inactivity is today's norm, researchers should base their studies on a physically active control group.
Booth is working nationally with other researchers to establish an organization, Scientists Against Inactivity-Related Diseases, to create awareness of the problem.
The study also continues the "one medicine" trend, in which human and veterinary medical researchers' work complements and advances one another. Inspired by this study, Booth will be investigating the increase of Type II diabetes in pets. He suspects that his team will find similar inactivity-related health problems in pets as found in their human counterparts.
-30-
EDITOR'S NOTE: "Waging War on Modern Chronic Diseases: Primary Prevention Through Exercise Biology" is available as the invited review at jap.physiology.org/current.shtml.
Contact: Teressa Tignor Gilbreth, Senior Information Specialist, (573) 882-9144, [email protected]
RSS