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Eight Hour Coding Session Causes DVT

Posted by ryuzaki0 on from the go-stretch-now dept.

NickFitz writes "The BBC reports that a UK programmer collapsed with Deep Vein Thrombosis after an eight hour programming session. The potentially life-threatening condition is more commonly seen in air passengers on long haul flights, but this should serve as a warning to many Slashdot readers (including me) that screen breaks aren't just for resting the eyes."

5 of 147 comments (clear)

  1. Re:No it doesn't! by spun · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Sitting for eight hours without moving causes DVT. I sleep for eight hours without moving much and haven't yet woken up in the ICU. It's the compression of the vein caused by having your legs hanging off the edge of a chair that does it. The reason that we see it so much in air travel is that the seats are designed to sort of fit everyone, and thus fit almost no one perfectly. With good ergonomic chair design, the leg veins won't be compressed and you could code for days without DVT.

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    - None can love freedom heartily, but good men; the rest love not freedom, but license. -- John Milton
  2. WTF? by pclminion · · Score: 2, Insightful

    They make it sounds like an "8 hour coding session" is some kind of monstrous abuse of your body. Uhhh... Don't many of us do this EVERY DAY? Just get out of the damn chair every once in a while! Was this guy pissing in a bottle or something?

  3. -1 Moderation, Stupid American Bashing by msuzio · · Score: 5, Insightful

    What American Way of Life would you expect a programmer in the UK to have, exactly?

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    It's a strange world -- let's keep it that way
  4. It was because of the sitting by technoextreme · · Score: 2, Insightful

    It seems to me that this wasn't a symptom of "coding" but of the inactivity caused by the "american way of life".

    Nah... Let's face the fact humans were never designed to be sitting down for 40 hours out of the week. It's simply not natrual. I'm in pretty decent health right now and I've noticed that having a desk job for the very first time does make my legs very uncomfortable when I sit for extended periods of time. It also appears that beign tall doesn't help. It seems like a pretty good concensous when looking up DVT that one of the causes is sitting down for extended periods of time.
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    Ooo man the floppy drive is broken. No wait. The computer is just upside down.
  5. what I do by Wise+Dragon · · Score: 2, Insightful

    I have a nervous habit. When I'm sitting, I'm constantly shaking my legs. Restless leg syndrome I think they call it. Anyway, I'm willing to bet this habit prevents me from getting a DVT by keeping my legs moving. YMMV.