BlackJack
Vertigo!
For your sanity and well-being, you are advised to go home from work early from now on.
According to new research, if you stare at a computer screen for more than five hours during one day you are very likely to suffer physical, mental and sleeping problems.
Spending more than five hours in front of a computer screen could even make you reluctant to go to work in the first place.
A team of Japanese researchers from Chibe University surveyed 25,000 office workers over three years.
They asked the workers to rate their mental and physical health, including whether they suffered headaches, back pain, depresion, anxiety and difficulty sleeping.
They then compared these answers with the length of time the workers spent in front of a video display terminal (VDT).
After adjusting the results for other factors, the researchers found a "significant relationaohip" between the length of time spent in front of a VDT and physical ailments.
Mental and sleep-related symptoms were significantly higher among workers who spent more than five hours in front of a computer screen.
"This result suggested that the effect of duration of daily VDT use on these scores has a threshold effect and the prevention of mental disorder and sleep disorder requires the restriction of VDTT use to less than five hours per day," the researcher reported.
The study, published in the latest American Journal of Industrial Medicine, recorded a range of mental and physical problems among those who spent more than five hours in front of a VDT.
These included headache, eye strain, joint pain, anxiety, insomnia, fatigue, and a "reluctance to go to work".
While the type of computer work the study participants performed varied considerably, as did the size of the computers used and the work environment, "it should be emphasised that even under such working conditions, our results were extremely consistent over a three year period", the researchers said.
To avoid the medical problems for using a computetr, specialists gave this advice to workers:
- Use an adjustable desk designed for use with computers.
- Positon your keyboard at a height that allows your elbows to rest comfortably at your side, roughly parallel with the floor and level with your keyboard.
- Adjust your chiar so your feet rest flat on the floor.
- Use a footstool (if your feet do not rest on the floor when the chair is adjuste to have the arms in a good posture).
- Take frequent short breaks and go for a walk or perform stretching exercises at your desk. Stand often.
pg 2 of weekend health, 9-10/11/2002 The Weekend Australian,
Whadda ya think?
(Get the hint Michael?)
According to new research, if you stare at a computer screen for more than five hours during one day you are very likely to suffer physical, mental and sleeping problems.
Spending more than five hours in front of a computer screen could even make you reluctant to go to work in the first place.
A team of Japanese researchers from Chibe University surveyed 25,000 office workers over three years.
They asked the workers to rate their mental and physical health, including whether they suffered headaches, back pain, depresion, anxiety and difficulty sleeping.
They then compared these answers with the length of time the workers spent in front of a video display terminal (VDT).
After adjusting the results for other factors, the researchers found a "significant relationaohip" between the length of time spent in front of a VDT and physical ailments.
Mental and sleep-related symptoms were significantly higher among workers who spent more than five hours in front of a computer screen.
"This result suggested that the effect of duration of daily VDT use on these scores has a threshold effect and the prevention of mental disorder and sleep disorder requires the restriction of VDTT use to less than five hours per day," the researcher reported.
The study, published in the latest American Journal of Industrial Medicine, recorded a range of mental and physical problems among those who spent more than five hours in front of a VDT.
These included headache, eye strain, joint pain, anxiety, insomnia, fatigue, and a "reluctance to go to work".
While the type of computer work the study participants performed varied considerably, as did the size of the computers used and the work environment, "it should be emphasised that even under such working conditions, our results were extremely consistent over a three year period", the researchers said.
To avoid the medical problems for using a computetr, specialists gave this advice to workers:
- Use an adjustable desk designed for use with computers.
- Positon your keyboard at a height that allows your elbows to rest comfortably at your side, roughly parallel with the floor and level with your keyboard.
- Adjust your chiar so your feet rest flat on the floor.
- Use a footstool (if your feet do not rest on the floor when the chair is adjuste to have the arms in a good posture).
- Take frequent short breaks and go for a walk or perform stretching exercises at your desk. Stand often.
pg 2 of weekend health, 9-10/11/2002 The Weekend Australian,
Whadda ya think?
(Get the hint Michael?)
...