Extensive sitting increases women's risk of pulmonary embolism, finds a new study in the current issue of the British Medical Journal. Women who reported the most inactivity were about twice as likely to experience pulmonary embolism as women reporting the least amount of inactivity.

Extensive immobility, for example being confined to a hospital bed after surgery, has long been a known risk factor for blood clots and pulmonary embolism, or PE, but this study shows that a generally inactive lifestyle increases the risk of PE too.

A pulmonary embolism occurs when a substance, usually a blood clot, travels through the bloodstream and lodges in the main artery leading to the lungs. About one-third of those untreated for their pulmonary embolism die from the condition, according to the Mayo Clinic.

Dr. James Douketis, director of Vascular Medicine at McMaster University, points out that the increased risk of pulmonary embolism for any one individual from extensive sitting is relatively small – only slightly higher than the risks of using oral contraceptives – and that the findings fit into a "common sense" recommendation that people spend less time in sedentary positions. Continue article at original source

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