久坐伤身，久站可能也不健康。工作时该站还是坐？

久坐已被贴上“新式吸烟”的标签，越来越多身体方面的研究将久坐习惯与多种健康问题联系在一起，比如新陈代谢缓慢，罹患心脏病的风险增加等。上周四，科学期刊《PLOS ONE 》刊发的一篇小规模新研究报告得出了同样结论，认为长期久坐可能导致记忆衰退和认知力下降。

该研究以35名45岁到75岁的成人为对象。研究人员利用脑部扫描测量每位受试者的内侧颞叶（MTL）——对记忆至关重要的大脑部位，并询问每天静坐和四处活动的时间。虽然不可能得出明确清晰的因果关系，但研究人员发现，MTL体积下降与静坐时间增多有关，这意味着，静坐过久确实可能导致认知力减退。

根据各项研究结果，我们可能下定决心要戒掉久坐的习惯。但做决定没那么简单，也要参考其他研究。今年2月另一份科学期刊《Ergonomics》刊登的研究说，长期站立可能也不太健康。该研究发现，如果一个工作日里站立两个小时可能会让人不适，可能难以保持专注和精力。

这样说来，整天久坐或者久站都不好，到底该怎么办公？纽约长老教会健康照护系统与康奈尔大学Weill医学中心的阿尔茨海默症预防治疗诊所主任、理查德·艾萨克森博士表示，没有放之四海而皆准的办法。

艾萨克森说，“要根据个人情况决定”，身体状况、骨骼问题、妊娠和体重等因素都可能决定是否更适合站立工作。他认为，选择具体方式最好的方法就是咨询私人医生。

但艾萨克森认为，应该尽量减少静坐的时间，这点已经过大量科学证据证明。“证据太多了，要我说还有更有力的证据，总之一天坐八个小时很不健康，”他说，“不利于促进新陈代谢，而且会影响寿命。”

把静坐改为站立可能也不是万灵药，多四处走动，饮食规律，定期运动，对保持身心健康都很重要。艾萨克森称，每天至少采取至少一种方法可能有帮助。他还表示，在阿尔茨海默症预防治疗诊所经常这样建议病人。（他还建议减少背部和关节承受的压力，要穿支撑性良好的鞋，站在软垫子上。）

要是你不适合站着工作，艾萨克森认为，只要保证身体基本健康也可以借助一些辅助工具，比如坐在健身球上，这样至少能激活核心肌肉，让新陈代谢保持正常水平。（财富中文网）

译者：Pessy

审校：夏林

Sitting has been dubbed “the new smoking” due to the ever-accumulating body of research linking our sedentary lifestyles to everything from poor metabolic health to an increased risk of heart disease. And on Thursday, a small new study published in the journal PLOS ONE added to that chorus, suggesting that too much sitting may over time contribute to memory loss and cognitive decline.

The study looked at 35 adults between the ages of 45 and 75. Researchers took brain scans to measure the thickness of each person’s medial temporal lobe (MTL) — a part of the brain crucial to memory — and quizzed each person about how much time per day they spend sitting and moving around. While it wasn’t possible to identify a clear cause-and-effect relationship, the researchers did find that increased sedentary time was associated with decreased MTL volume, suggesting that excessive sitting may be a risk factor for cognitive decline.

Based on findings like those, you couldn’t be blamed for swearing off your desk chair. But that decision grows more complicated when you consider studies like one published in February in the journal Ergonomics, which says long bouts on your feet may not be so healthy, either. Standing for a two-hour chunk during the work day, that study found, may lead to physical discomfort all over the body, and make it harder to stay focused and energized.

So if it’s not great to sit or stand all day, what should you do at the office? Dr. Richard Isaacson, director of the Alzheimer’s Prevention Clinic at NewYork-Presbyterian/Weill Cornell Medical Center, says there’s no one-size-fits-all solution.

“An individual person needs to make a decision based on what’s best for them,” Isaacson says, adding factors including physical fitness, orthopedic issues, pregnancy and body weight could all make someone more or less suited to standing at work. The best way to make a choice for yourself, he says, is to consult your doctor.

That said, Isaacson says the bulk of scientific evidence supports the notion that we should minimize time spent sitting. “There’s way more evidence, and I would say stronger evidence, that suggests when someone sits for eight hours a day, it’s not good for you,” he says. “It’s not good for the metabolic health, it’s not good for longevity.”

Switching to a standing desk may not be a cure-all — moving throughout the day, eating well, and exercising regularly are also important for brain and body health. But Isaacson says using one for at least part of the day may help, adding that he regularly advises patients in his Alzheimer’s Prevention Clinic to do so. (He does recommend wearing supportive shoes and standing on a soft mat, to reduce strain on the back and joints.)

If standing at the office really doesn’t work for you, however, Isaacson says there may be happy medium, so long as you have a baseline level of physical fitness: sitting on a balance ball, which at least activates the core and keeps your metabolism firing throughout the day.