 Our sedentary lifestyle. Much more on medicine is an opportunity to learn about all aspects of health care. I talk with guests about medical and alternative care treatment, insurance, medication, surgery, rehabilitation, prevention, and much more. This is my first show of 2020, and if you're like me, you are hoping to become more fit and healthy this year. Raise your hand if you have a desk job or spend many hours on airplanes. Besides being an attorney and an avid traveler, I also write books, which means I'm sitting way too much. Joining me to talk about how to thrive in your sedentary lifestyle is fellow author Elaine Galant and Dr. Gary Weiss. Elaine Galant is the author of the fifth C, a CIA novel. She's a fellow world traveler who I met at the Kauai Writers Conference and her past coincidentally crossed in London and Athens in the past few years. When Elaine is not traveling or writing, she enjoys golf tennis and is formerly an ace tennis player. Gary Weiss MD is board certified in diagnostic radiology, which he practiced for more than 30 years. Prior to moving to Maui and joining a national terror radiology company, Dr. Weiss worked at a large teaching hospital, level one trauma center in central Florida. Now he's retired and he's spending as much time as possible on the golf course. Elaine and Dr. Weiss, welcome. How are you? Thanks for having me. It's great to have you here. And so today, let's talk about sitting too long. Why did you become interested in this topic? Elaine? Well, because I'm the one who sits, I started feeling a lot of tingling in the backs of my legs behind my thighs. And I got very concerned about that because I was sitting for up to five, eight hours a day, writing, you know, short stories and working on my novels. But I also had other conditions develop. I gained weight. I developed a little bit of tendonitis in my shoulder, in my elbow area. And then also I had concerns about my eyes. My vision wasn't as good as it was. And I could count that as aging, I know. But I think it has a lot to do with staring at a computer as well. Okay. Well, you know, it is a problem. And let me ask you, Dr. Weiss, how long is sitting too long? That's a good question, Catherine. You really have to break that down into sitting acutely and how many hours per day. Acutely, it would really be somewhere between 30 and 60 minutes. That studies have shown that your metabolic rate starts to slow after about 30 minutes. So from an acute perspective, in a perfect world, you'd want to get up and move around every 30 to 60 minutes. Probably more importantly is just over the course of a day. I mean, studies have shown between six to eight hours a day and mortality rates skyrocket without proper exercise and without moving or taking breaks during the day. Okay. Well, let's go back to being an author. Okay. And one thing that Elaine and I certainly have in common is that we are published authors. And I'm going to talk about our books a little bit in our experience in sitting for very lengthy time writing books. So let's show Elaine's books. She's written the fifth CIA novel. And coming up, she's going to be publishing this novel where Lilac's bloom. And then let's bring up my books. And this is my series of legal mysteries. So Elaine, how much did you have to sit in order to write a fifth C and then your upcoming novel? Well, I started writing the fifth C in 2012. So I sat for five years writing until it was okay. And I was very dedicated. I treated it as a job. I got up in the morning. I came to my desk prepared. I was dressed. I hadn't, however, I would go to an office and I made it my job. And then after I published that, I started working on where Lilac's bloom. And that's been a two-year project so far. I'm not a fast writer of novels. I do a lot of revision. There's a thousand ways to write a sentence. And I think I get wrapped up in that and play. I love my characters. I fit fiddle and faddle with them. And so I can be in my chair for quite a length of time and quite a number of days and months and years. Okay. And you know, I started Landsharks the first in my series in 2009. And from date of starting that to 2016, I mean, that's how long it took to get that first novel out. I had written a textbook before then. And my novels thereafter, the second in the series, Free Will, that took about 10 months to write the first draft. And I was able to knock out VO2 Max in about three months. But then there was the editing of those two. And so it is a long process. We sit as writers. We sit at our desks for a very long time. And as an attorney, I sit at my desk. And then let's go to the travel piece, Elaine. You know, you fly from Maui to far off exotic places. And we've seen each other in London and Athens. And I'm going to Lima tomorrow. And it's just incredible. When you go from Honolulu, like tomorrow I'm going Honolulu, San Francisco, San Francisco, Newark, Newark to Lima. And then the next day from Lima to Cusco. That is a heck of a lot of sitting. Okay. Yes. And so when you go to Maui, are you taking those similar paths going all over the place? Well, when I went back to research some of the locations in the fifth sea, I went to had to go to Paris. Too bad, right? But I had to fly from Maui to Honolulu, Honolulu to the mainland. I overnighted there. And then I went to, I think it was New York and then New York over to Paris. So even to get to Paris was a multi day journey. Okay. So, Gary, let me ask you. What are the problems with sitting too long? Well, where do you begin? Again, you know, we have to discuss if it's an acute sitting or over the course of a lifetime. And flying is probably the best example of an acute situation. When you, the biggest risk is deep venous thrombosis or venous thromboembolism. After you've been sitting for a while, the blood stasis occurs in the lower extremities and people become at high risk for having deep venous thrombosis. Approximately 40% of patients that have deep venous thrombosis or clots in the lower extremity veins can have emboli go to the lungs. And that's where there's a 25% chance of an acute death occurring and other chronic issues after that. So in the immediate case, venous thrombosis is a problem. From a chronic perspective, which applies to most of us desk jockeys that have spent six, eight, 10 hours a day for many years sitting, it gets a lot more complicated. And it's a lot more concerning. Studies have shown that 20% overall higher death rate from people that are sitting at desk for prolonged periods of time. There's a double incidence of diabetes. An interesting study I saw show that if you're sitting at a desk or inactive for eight hours a day and you don't exercise, you get greater than 100% higher mortality rate than if you were active and sat for less than four hours. There's also an association of higher blood pressure, high cholesterol, weight gain. So the chronic issues associated with long-term sitting are really very important to evaluate. Okay. And who's at risk for sitting too long besides Elaine and I? Because we're clearly at risk. Well, certainly you look at the prototypic patient who has problems from sitting. You know, elderly people, blood clots, and a lot of these problems are age-related. Once you hit age 45, you have an 8% chance of deep venous thrombosis. Over age 60, it goes up. People that are at risk just in general for venous thrombosis would be pregnant patients, patients taking birth control pills, cancer patients are at super high risk. There's a whole subgroup of patients that have inherited clotting disorders. So that group, and certainly from a work point of view, this whole electronic enterprise, e-commerce society we live in, so many people are just sitting at the desk all day long. And there's that productivity pressure and the need to take breaks and probably even more importantly, to exercise and try and counteract some of these effects is really critical. And one thing that comes to mind is the younger generation who are spending so much time playing games and sitting at their computers and with their devices. I would think that they're developing those habits very early. And so that that is a problem. Would you agree with that? I would totally agree. I expect that we're going to see an epidemic of a whole new set of diseases down the road. And I think it was becoming, it's becoming apparent now that some of us had really started doing heavy computer work at the millennial level, starting let's say 20 years ago. But you're going to see two different sets of issues. You're going to see the specific computer related issues, and then you're going to see the sitting health related issues that I talked about earlier. And two entirely different areas, but with some overlap. Okay. And Elaine, can you think of any famous people who we've heard that have had these problems? Well, there is a race car driver by the name of Brian. Dr. Weiss, help me out here. Brian. Vickers. Vickers. And then Hillary Clinton is a very famous person. And then as an athlete, more specifically, Serena Williams after her pregnancy. Okay. And, and I would think that we're going to see more and more people. Well, of course, the population shift is shifting to elderly people. And that they will certainly have issues with the secondary lifestyle of being retired if you're not Gary and Elaine, golfing and playing tennis. But at this point, we're going to take a short break. I'm Catherine Norr. This is much more on medicine on the Think Tech live streaming network series. We're talking with Elaine Galant and Dr. Gary Weiss about how to thrive in your sedentary lifestyle. Aloha, and welcome. My name is Mark Shklav. I am the host of Think Tech Hawaii's Law Across the Sea program. Every other Monday at one o'clock, I am here on deck with various guests talking about different topics of the world and the ocean and international law, different areas where we all have seen and want to travel to and learn about. Please join me for my next Law Across the Sea program. Aloha. Aloha. I'm Dave Stevens, host of the Cyber Underground. This is where we discuss everything that relates to computers that just kind of scare you out of your mind. So come join us every week here on ThinkTechHawaii.com, 1 p.m. on Friday afternoons. And then you can go see all our episodes on YouTube. Just look up the Cyber Underground on YouTube. All our shows will show up and please follow us. We're always giving you current relevant information to protect you. Keepin' you safe. Aloha. I'm Katharine Noor, and this is much more on medicine on the ThinkTech live streaming network series. And we're talking with Elaine Galant and Dr. Gary Weiss about how to thrive in your sedentary lifestyle. So Elaine, you mentioned that you had some tingling in your legs when you were sitting so long. Did you end up having any problem from that? I did not, other than the discomfort of it. I never developed any DVTs or anything like that, but that doesn't mean I walked down the road. But I do take precautions, so and I highly recommend that everyone do. Okay. And so, Gary, could you tell us what kind of symptoms one would have if they are experiencing medical problems related to sitting? Sure. Well, again, deep venous thrombosis would be the main sitting-related issue from an acute perspective. And that would typically manifest as pain or swelling below the knee. You might have redness. You might have warmth. But the pain and swelling are the typical characteristics of lower extremity, deep venous thrombosis. A more serious symptom would be chest pain and shortness of breath, which could be associated with a pulmonary embolus, which would imply that some of the clots have broken off from the vein, thrombus, and gone to the lung. One might also note unexplained high heart rate or just general malaise. So the problem with the deep venous thrombosis isn't specifically what it does to the lower extremity. It's the secondary effect of the clots going to the lung is really the concerning situation. And can that be deadly? Oh, absolutely. The mortality rate just from deep venous thrombosis is 10%, which is primarily due to pulmonary emboli. Pulmonary emboli from an acute perspective, 25% mortality. And 30% of deep venous thrombosis can recur, and then you have to go over those same mortality and risk factors again. So it's a concerning issue. Okay. And what do you do if you feel those symptoms? Well, the first thing I would do is head to the hospital. You'd want to have a hospital evaluation. An emergency room doctor or somebody's doctor would take a look at the leg, decide what the risk factors are, and either immediately do an ultrasound, which is how it's diagnosed in most cases, or if it was a lower risk situation, might order a blood test, which is very accurate for determining whether somebody has a high probability of thrombosis or not, in which case then they would go on to the ultrasound. Okay. And Elaine, I understand that you've done a lot of research to determine what one can do to prevent these problems. So could you share with us? And I also understand you've written an article or articles about this, is that correct? I have. And I've written one article on it already, it's been published in several venues, because it's not everyone's mind. Sitting is a serious concern today. A body was not meant to sit. A body is meant to move. And when we sit, these problems happen. So what I do, the first thing that I ever did was get a gel seat for my office chair. And I don't hesitate when I think about it to switch out my chairs. Every once in a while, I'll shove the office chair aside and I'll pull out my yoga ball and sit on my yoga ball and bounce on it a little bit, or move that out, and I'll sit on a stool or wheels and move that around so that my legs are moving. I have a roller ball under my desk that I can move my, that I can move back and forth to keep things going. You can put tennis balls under your feet or even golf balls, just get that circulation moving and keeping going. So that's underneath. The most important thing is to stand up. Stand up. You've seen the pneumatic desk that everyone is touting. I think even Costco has them. They can run anywhere from $2,000 on up for a pneumatic desk, got a push of a button. It helps you stand up with all your equipment, so you don't have to do any heavy lifting. But I have, I don't know if I can show you this, but I bought a little tiny lecture stand. And these adjust, these adjust to whatever height I want. And I sit it on my desk and I can put my keyboard and my mouse on that, and then I can stand up. And it weighs nothing, and it costs maybe $40. So, you know, it's not an expensive proposition to get your work up so that you can stand up. And you do want to stand up. Some people will use a timer. I personally work in the quiet, so I can't have an egg timer going off. I don't wear a watch in Hawaii. I don't know if you do, but you know, I get up with the sun and then I start falling asleep when it goes down. But so I don't wear a Fitbit or anything like that. But the Fitbit would be a great thing for people who are very sedentary, set it for every 30 minutes to ping and make you stand up. What I do, which helps me a great deal, is I declare laundry day. Oh my gosh. Are you kidding? I'm killing two birds with one stone. Well, more than that, because I'm saving myself. I'm getting my laundry done. I'm writing. I'm standing up every 35 minutes to go change the washer to the dryer and folding and everything else. So, laundry day is a great thing to incorporate into a day when you know that you have a dedicated day of sitting in a chair. Do you want me to keep going? Because there's lots of... I do, okay. We need a break. But I do want to point out that I do have an Apple watch, and it does tell me to stand and breathe at times. I have to admit that before this show, I've been ignoring it, but now I'm thinking that maybe I'm going to pay attention to those signals to stand, and maybe I'll breathe too. We should probably all stand right now. We should, but we will continue on. So, what other things can people do to prevent problems? Well, one of the things that people can do very easily, and they ignore, is like any endeavor. Stretch before you start, and stretch after you finish. Here's another very easy little thing to have by your desk. Look at this. I got it at Sports Authority. Three of them in the bag for like 15 bucks. Come on. Everybody can afford this thing. And you could tie that around your legs. I've seen physical therapists where they tie them, and they make a band, and they put it around their legs, and then you can move your legs. Yes, you can do your tension, moving your legs in and out against the tension. But hey, I'm going to have to have a Suzanne Summers thigh master. So, I don't hesitate putting that between my legs, or even using it to do arm exercises while I'm working. That's a good one. Yeah. And heck, what about a big giant encyclopedic book for lifting, right? You just lift it, right? Just pick it up. There's canned goods. Go put some canned goods on your desk. Pick them up every now and then. Keep moving while you're working. Something that helps flyers, and also helps writers or people who sit all day, are of course compression socks. They're not a bad thing. They have all sizes and kinds, zippered and unzippered, and you know, because those things are really hard to get on. But yeah, so who's vain when you're writing? No one's going to see you, right? Just put them on. I'm actually wearing compression socks while I fly tomorrow. I always, I try to wear compression socks on the long flights. Another thing that I do is I always sit on the aisle, and I try to get up intermittently to walk to the restroom, at least take a little walk. And I try very hard not to sit by a window because that really blocks me in. I agree. And getting up on a flight is critical. Very critical. Um, something else you can do while seated isometric stomach crunches. Do you even think about that? You're sitting, you've got your hands busy, you're typing, but you can hold your stomach in for 10 seconds. Let it go. Hold it in. Let it go. And incorporate that. And speaking of the stomach, I don't know about you, Catherine, but I like to snack a little, right? On occasion. Don't make a sandwich or whatever. But you want to snack smart, right? You want to eat vegetables and fruits and nuts and natural foods and things like that while you're seated because we have a tendency to eat without thinking. So we might overeat or we'll eat the wrong things or whatever. So you want to have a measured amount of food so that you have conscientious snacking while you're eating because food is fuel. You have to keep going. Another thing is also what beverages you drink. I have a tendency towards green tea and water, but Gatorade will give you electrolytes just like any athlete. Drink sugar-free. Don't drink sodas and things like that because, again, that's going to add to your weight gain while seated. So what you eat and drink and how you do that, that can affect your, affect this? Absolutely. Not only your weight, but also your brain. Is it going to get tired faster? If you're eating a lot of sugary stuff, you're going to have these spurts and burnouts, right? We all know that about sugary drinks. Something else, and this is something no one ever really thinks about. When you're staring at a computer screen, let's say you're a gamer or you're a writer like we are, and you're staring at a computer screen all day, you're getting that ambient blue light back, coming back at you. So I have a pair of tinted computer glasses. They're tinted yellow, actually, and they're also larger. They're magnified larger. And also my writing page, I blow it up to 200. Why work at 100% when you can blow it up to 200 and give your eyes that necessary relief of staring at a screen all day? Another combative way to help your eyes is after 30 minutes of looking close up, go and look out a window. Your eyes need to exercise too, right? So you want the near vision and the far vision. So give your eyes that break from its job. So another thing I'll just add is I think that if you, when you're talking on the phone that you can also walk around and that gives you an opportunity to get some exercise and move around rather than sitting. But we're out of time. Unfortunately, I've had a great time talking with Elaine Galant and Dr. Gary Weiss. We've learned a lot. I'm Catherine Nora. This is much more on medicine on the ThinkTech live streaming network series. I hope that you've learned about how you can thrive in your sedentary lifestyle and that you'll follow some of the clues that we've given you and some of this advice. Thank you for joining us today. And I wish you and yours a happy and active new year. And I thank our producer Jay Fidel and our broadcast engineer and floor manager who put it all together. Please join us for future ThinkTech productions.