How IT Job Affects Your Health

Are you a young IT professional, in your 20s, 30s or even early 40s working up to 10-hours daily in front of your computer? You try to eat something at least halfway healthy when you make it to the company canteen. By 5 p.m., you’re sprawled out all over your desk, (hell with ergonomics!), still typing furiously on your workstation wondering if you’ll ever get out the door.

You know in the back of your mind that the long days, heavy workload, poor eating, lack of exercise and awkward posture add up to your really stressful work environment. But hey, you’re young, you can handle it, right?

Wrong.

Keep it up another 10 years, and you could be looking at a host of ailments, from nagging aches and pains on up through serious, life-threatening conditions, according to a host of medical experts.

(To see just how much damage the IT lifestyle can inflict, check out our head-to-toe chart).

The combination of a sedentary workday and poor eating habits can lead first and foremost to obesity, which can put your heart at risk and lead to a litany of other diseases. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, in 2005-2006 the prevalence of obesity among adult men was 33.3% and 35.3% among adult women.

Obesity, in turn, increases the risk for conditions like hypertension (high blood pressure), Type 2 diabetes, stroke, gallbladder disease, sleep apnea, respiratory problems, certain cancers and cardiovascular disease.

Finally, work-related stress, while motivating in manageable doses, can grind down your health over time. Undue stress can lower your immune defenses, increase the risk of heart disease and bring on anxiety, depression and difficulty sleeping, according to the Mayo Clinic.

Scared yet?

Eyes

The good news is there is no evidence that staring at a computer screen degrades your vision permanently. But short-term symptoms are common.

According to the American Optometric Association, people who use computers daily at work or at home could suffer from computer vision syndrome, which leaves them vulnerable to problems like dry eye, eyestrain, neck and backaches, light sensitivity and fatigue. Many of these symptoms result from poor workstation configuration and improper work habits.

Altering viewing distance, changing the screen setup, ensuring proper lighting and monitoring the ergonomics of the desk environment can help. But taking frequent eye breaks is just as important. The AOA suggests practicing the “20/20″ rule ― look away from the computer every 20 minutes for 20 seconds to minimize eye-focusing problems and irritation caused by infrequent blinking.

Mental Health

Overworked IT professionals leave themselves vulnerable to increased stress. During times of stress, the brain releases adrenaline and other hormones to heighten senses and boost strength. While experts consider the normal stress response healthy, chronic stress can harm the immune and cardiovascular systems, and increase vulnerability to heart disease, depression, exhaustion, sleep deprivation and overall malaise, according to the Mayo Clinic.

High levels of stress and anxiety can also provoke more minor conditions, such as hives, contact dermatitis, heart palpitations and headaches. It can also lead to mindless overeating, which, in turn, can lead to weight gain and its related medical risks.

Back

Without the proper ergonomic setup, deskbound workers like IT professionals run the risk of back and spine injuries. Problems can include anything from cervical radiculopathy (a compression of the nerve roots in the neck) and bursitis of the shoulder on down to pulled or strained muscles, ligaments and tendons in the lower back.

Hands, Arms and Elbow

There’s been a decrease in the past five years in carpal tunnel syndrome, but there are still plenty of other prevalent repetitive stress ailments afflicting the hands, arms and elbows as a result of prolonged computer use.

Hand and wrist tendonitis, tenosynovitis (also known as DeQuervain’s tendonitis) and ulnar nerve entrapment are just some conditions that could be in store for you if you spend too much time at the keyboard without a proper eye to ergonomics.

To cut short that damage before it happens, check out recommendations for a more ergonomic workstation setup from the Occupational Health & Safety Administration.

Gut

Over the years, a lifestyle of poor food choices and lack of exercise pretty much guarantees weight gain and loss of muscle mass. And IT workers in particular are at risk of gaining weight.

Weight gain, particularly when around the middle, where it tends to collect in middle age, has been directly linked to metabolic syndrome, a group of risk factors that increase propensity for heart diseases and diabetes, among other problems.

Legs

If you’re stuck behind a desk all day, the lack of exercise over time can lead to loss of muscle mass, and losing muscle mass decreases a person’s ability to keep weight off, NSMC’s Waldman says. “When it comes to muscle mass, if you don’t use it, you lose it,” he says, “and muscle is far more effective at metabolizing calories than fat.”

Age, gender and genetics are outside your control, but lifestyle and eating habits are well within your grasp to change.

References from pcworld.com’s How That IT Job Wears Your Body Down by Beth Stackpole.