People who like to play mahjong, poker games or other board games during the Lunar New Year holiday are advised to stand up and walk around from time to time due to the health risks associated with sitting for a long time, a physical therapist said.
Lee Chang-han (李昌翰), a physical therapist at Cathay General Hospital in New Taipei City, said that common symptoms of prolonged sitting include muscle inflammation, backache, shoulder and neck stiffness, indigestion, dizziness and numb feet, while it could worsen cardiovascular disease and even cause bladder inflammation or other problems.
People with a history of heart disease or high blood pressure should pay more attention to the health risks associated with sitting for a long time, Lee added.
Photo: Chiu Chih-jou, Taipei Times
As a person playing games generally keeps their arms fixed within a certain range and repeatedly bends and raises them, it is easy to cause muscle fatigue, which can lead to inflammation of the tendons, Lee said.
A person’s back muscles can tighten if they sit in the same position for a long period, Lee said.
“Playing mahjong or poker games can also easily result in excessive use of the muscles in the back of the neck ... [producing] a deep dull pain due to lack of oxygen,” he said.
Dizziness and numbness in the feet are mainly caused by sitting for a long time, Lee said.
“Blood circulation ... will be hindered, which can easily cause coldness and numbness in the lower limbs. When a person stands up suddenly after sitting for a long time, they often feel dizzy due to the change of posture,” he said.
Meanwhile, sitting for long periods reduces slows gastrointestinal peristalsis, he said.
That, coupled with irregular mealtimes or overeating during the Lunar New Year holiday, can cause indigestion, gastric ulcers and other digestive system problems, Lee said.
When playing games, people with a history of heart disease and high blood pressure tend to get overly excited or agitated, which increases their risk of a stroke, angina, heart attack or other serious events, Lee said.
Many people often do not urinate as often as they should when playing games, Lee said, adding that this can cause a urinary tract infection and bladder inflammation.
“When playing games, people should choose a chair of appropriate height to avoid hunching over. It is recommended they leave the chair for 10 minutes every hour,” Lee said.
PRAISE: Japanese visitor Takashi Kubota said the Taiwanese temple architecture images showcased in the AI Art Gallery were the most impressive displays he saw Taiwan does not have an official pavilion at the World Expo in Osaka, Japan, because of its diplomatic predicament, but the government-backed Tech World pavilion is drawing interest with its unique recreations of works by Taiwanese artists. The pavilion features an artificial intelligence (AI)-based art gallery showcasing works of famous Taiwanese artists from the Japanese colonial period using innovative technologies. Among its main simulated displays are Eastern gouache paintings by Chen Chin (陳進), Lin Yu-shan (林玉山) and Kuo Hsueh-hu (郭雪湖), who were the three young Taiwanese painters selected for the East Asian Painting exhibition in 1927. Gouache is a water-based
A magnitude 4.1 earthquake struck eastern Taiwan's Hualien County at 2:23pm today, according to the Central Weather Administration (CWA). The epicenter of the temblor was 5.4 kilometers northeast of Hualien County Hall, at a depth of 34.9 km, according to the CWA. The earthquake's intensity, which gauges the actual effect of a temblor, was the highest in Hualien County, where it measured 2 on Taiwan's 7-tier intensity scale. The quake also measured an intensity of 1 in Yilan county, Taichung, Nantou County, Changhua County and Yunlin County, the CWA said. There were no immediate reports of damage or injuries.
OFF-TARGET: More than 30,000 participants were expected to take part in the Games next month, but only 6,550 foreign and 19,400 Taiwanese athletes have registered Taipei city councilors yesterday blasted the organizers of next month’s World Masters Games over sudden timetable and venue changes, which they said have caused thousands of participants to back out of the international sporting event, among other organizational issues. They also cited visa delays and political interference by China as reasons many foreign athletes are requesting refunds for the event, to be held from May 17 to 30. Jointly organized by the Taipei and New Taipei City governments, the games have been rocked by numerous controversies since preparations began in 2020. Taipei City Councilor Lin Yen-feng (林延鳳) said yesterday that new measures by
‘WORSE THAN COMMUNISTS’: President William Lai has cracked down on his political enemies and has attempted to exterminate all opposition forces, the chairman said The legislature would motion for a presidential recall after May 20, Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫) said yesterday at a protest themed “against green communists and dictatorship” in Taipei. Taiwan is supposed to be a peaceful homeland where people are united, but President William Lai (賴清德) has been polarizing and tearing apart society since his inauguration, Chu said. Lai must show his commitment to his job, otherwise a referendum could be initiated to recall him, he said. Democracy means the rule of the people, not the rule of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), but Lai has failed to fulfill his
RSS