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Long term health risks of Medical Transcription? - Neesy

Posted: Jul 10, 2012

I am a Canadian medical transcriptionist. I have been doing this job for seven years now and I really enjoy it. The thing is though is that I used to be in the military for 21 years and went to the gym every day. I had a much more active job. So I do find that after seven years of sitting down for 8 hours per day that I have put on about 20 lbs. I started going back to the gym after work as we have one at this hospital. It only opened a couple of years ago. What do others think about this? Do you think sitting for long periods is bad for your long term health?

I think it is pretty much proven now that - sitting for long periods is not

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conducive to great health. The good news is just taking short breaks standing up helps counter the bad effects. In fact, the other day I heard something on the radio about how stand-up desks are now becoming popular, so maybe we could fix up something like that for at least part of our work day.

I tried that; it didn't work for me - sadMT

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I bought an adjustable desk because I got tired of sitting all day. You push a button to raise and lower the height. The problem was the foot pedal. After a few minutes of basically standing on one foot while the other one worked the pedal, my foot got sore and I went back to sitting. That desk is now in storage in the spare room until I figure out what to do with it.

As for the weight gain, yes, I've had that problem, too. I've gained 1-2 pounds per year since I've been transcribing. Doesn't sound like much, but after a dozen years of this it's really starting to become a problem (and now menopause isn't helping!). Time for me to get busy and since I seem to be always running out of work lately, it looks like I actually do have time to work out!

Here is a link for some info - noner

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I can't find the original article I read on this last year, but this one has some of the info. Basicallly apparently what is being found is people who sit prolonged periods of time for their jobs, no matter what level of exercise they engage in otherwise, puts them at increased risk for all kinds of disease. I also wonder about blood clots from sitting in one position all day.

Here is the original article I read last year - noner

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I found it, had sent it to a friend. They believe they are finding prolonged sitting in and of itself is a big promoter of some cancers, etc.

Sitting - Neesy

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Thank you for that article. I read it all and I will try to set a timer to remind me to get up and move around every 60 minutes at the least. I found it a bit funny that the person they quoted was called "Bender" (it reminded me of Futurama!) I am also finding menopause is affecting my ability to lose weight (as the other girl mentioned) so I am going back on Weight Watchers (on my own) so I will look good in Mexico in January 2013 when my oldest son gets married :-)

Besides sitting being bad for us... - (see message)

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...I find that besides the weight-gain issue, sitting and transcribing all day also puts us at risk for eye strain, neck strain, shoulder pain, wrist pain, carpal tunnel syndrome, back pain, hearing loss....and, one could argue, maybe even personality loss!!! (haha...just kidding on that last one...or am I??) :-D

Four years ago, one of my fellow MTs and I joined WeightWatchers together. It really helped having a friend who was doing it with me, but we both had tremendous success. I had to really add to my daily walking exercise (made time for a good, brisk, 2-mile walk at least 5 days a week) and became much more aware of portion sizes.

I lost just over 40 pounds within 6 months and, best of all, have kept it off all this time! It does take awareness of what you put in your mouth to keep it off; but I found that after I lost all that weight, I WANTED to stay slim and healthy, so I actually love to eat healthy now.

A stressful job situation doesn't help with weight problems, either.

Thanks! - Neesy

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Good for you! I admire your tenacity and I agree that if you have a good buddy to help you in your weight loss and fitness etc. that it makes all the difference :-) I have to go for a fitness assessment at the gym and it has been two years since the last one. I just hope I can do as well as you did and keep it off too :-)

You can do it, Neesy! - :-) see message

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Good luck with your fitness assessment. I hope you have great success....it's worth the work and effort it takes to feel so much better in the long-term.

I would advise you -- don't overdo your workout regimen. A lot of people jump in too aggressively and then, after they lose the weight, can't keep up that routine and gain the weight back. That's why my 2-mile walks have worked so well for me....it's not overly excessive or time-consuming (takes me about 30 minutes to walk it fairly briskly), costs basically nothing (I walk either in my neighborhood or on the walking/jogging trail at a nearby park or at the mall when the weather is too hot or cold outside), and I can keep it up no matter where I am.

Wishing you great success in your weight-loss endeavor!

You're welcome... - noner

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I think it's a very good idea for everyone involved in this occupation to get up and move at least every hour. I see this as a legitimate issue, especially for those of us who are employees and required to sit for hours on end "hands on the keyboard" with no break allowed until whatever time limit is set. Not good considering the multiple and severe health risks associated, including the info in this article and others related.

Insanity. nm. - deenibeeni

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