Desktop workers risk blood clots, says new study

Office workers glued to computer screens are at greater risk of deadly blood clots forming in their legs than long-distance air travellers, the author of a New Zealand study on thrombosis said on Monday.

The study’s leader, professor Richard Beasley of New Zealand’s privately funded Medical Research Institute, said the study found that 34 per cent of patients admitted to hospital with blood clots had been seated at work for long periods.

Deep vein thrombosis, or DVT, is a condition in which a blood clot forms in the deep veins of the legs. The condition can be fatal if part of the clot breaks off and blocks a blood vessel in the lungs. The condition has been linked to long-haul flights and dubbed ‘economy class syndrome’, because passengers travelling often do not have the space or the opportunity to stretch their legs enough to reduce the risk of blood clotting.

“Being seated for long periods of time... The risk (of blood clots developing in the veins of the legs) is certainly there,” Beasley said.

“There are considerably more people who are seated for long periods at work as part of their normal day than there are travelling,” he said, adding the main groups affected are workers in the IT industry and in call centres.

The study covered 62 patients under 65 years who were admitted to hospital with blood clots.

Beasley said a surprise finding was that “people are working for so long”. “We had people not uncommonly working 12 to 14 hours a day and being seated for that time,” he said.

The 34 per cent finding is far higher than the 1.4 per cent of blood clot patients from among those who recently travelled on long-haul flights.

“It’s the same thing occurring in a similar circumstances as travellers’ thrombosis,” Beasley noted.

Some reported being seated at the job for three to four hours at a stretch, “reflecting the very sedentary nature of our work at the moment”, he said. The study will be published next month in the New Zealand Medical Journal.

Courtesy : HindustanTimes