Eight Hour Coding Session Causes DVT 147
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."
A day in the life... (Score:5, Funny)
Re:A day in the life... (Score:1)
I was taking a break from coding for the last hour to read this article.
Re:A day in the life... (Score:2)
Re:A day in the life... (Score:5, Funny)
Re:A day in the life... (Score:2)
Re:A day in the life... (Score:5, Funny)
- sm
"exercise break" (Score:5, Funny)
Re:"exercise break" (Score:5, Informative)
OSHA and EPA involvement (Score:2)
I got good news and bad news for you (Score:3, Funny)
Enjoy your promotion.
Re:"exercise break" (Score:2)
Re:"exercise break" (Score:2)
Re:"exercise break" (Score:2)
Ugh, now you tell me... (Score:2)
Faceplant (Score:5, Funny)
"I was sat at my desk and suddenly I was hit with the most excruciating pain in my lower back, I collapsed at the desk with my head on the keyboard, the pain was just so severe."
Collapsed with his head on the keyboard? No wonder he won the Obfuscated C Contest.
{for(x=A[1],i=calloc(strlen(x)+2,163840);
C-1;C3?Q=_= 0,(z[1]=*x++)?((*x++==104?z[1]^=32:--x)
Re:Faceplant (Score:1)
Re:Faceplant (Score:2)
WTF? (Score:2, Insightful)
Re:WTF? (Score:1)
Re:WTF? (Score:2)
Re:WTF? (Score:3, Informative)
"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?"
This is ignorance of the dangerous variety. You can get DVT just by sitting in a cramped position for an hour or two. In fact it's more popularly known as Second Class Syndrome.
I'm going to assume that the Second Class passengers don't piss in bottl
Re:WTF? (Score:2)
Re:WTF? (Score:3, Informative)
"From your post it sounds like you've suffered DVT even though you thought you were doing things right. THAT'S informative."
Not really. I was getting up to get drinks, take a leak, etc. But no set times and no real plan. Again, it can hit you with just one cramped session.
Now I ALWAYS walk around and stretch a great deal if the part of my leg than hangs over the seat feels pinched at ALL.
Re:WTF? (Score:2)
the chair should be just the right height that you legs go straight out then down to feet flat on the floor as if you were standing.
Re:WTF? (Score:1, Troll)
2) Some people, such as myself, have pretty damn retentive bladders. Even after knocking off a six-pack, I don't have to immediately run to releive myself. Sometimes, I can realize t
Re:WTF? (Score:2)
Did I not say: "Just get out of the damn chair every once in a while?" I was merely expressing shock that this person sat still in a chair for an *8 hour period*. Somehow you've inferred from this that I am a brown-nosing chair dweller? Seriously, what drugs are you taking?
Re:WTF? (Score:2)
Eight hours without going isn't difficult...
Simple answer... (Score:2)
Re:Simple answer... (Score:2)
I wrote a piece of Health and Safety assessment software for my company a while ago and one of the questions which every person was obliged to answer is what is the longest continuous daily period he/she sits in front of the computer. Any entries above 45 mins were set to be flagged to the attention of HR and Health and Safety.
As a matter of fact, while this is not enshrined in UK law this is what the current Health and Safety guidelines say and the person (if he is still alive) or his estate ha
Re:Simple answer... (Score:2)
What about the person who has a crappy job where they are not allowed to leave their workstation without a manager's permission. There are still plenty of companies that treat their employees like serfs.
Re:Simple answer... (Score:1)
Re:Simple answer... (Score:2)
Current HS guidelines in the UK are that you should take at least one 5 minute break every 45 minutes. This is not enshrined in law so a company may push a bit more than that but not by much. If a local arsehole suffering from a resurgence of ancestral slave trading genes is overstepping the line all it takes is for someone to write a letter to the local HS executive and watch the show unfold.
This is one part of UK law on which the companies nearly universally lose in court. To make th
Re:Simple answer... (Score:2)
I've yet to be in any company that operated in such a manner, and certainly wouldn't stay if I was foolish enough to take the job in the first place.
Re:Simple answer... (Score:2)
I'm just waiting... (Score:1)
And then some jackass sues Blizzard...
Almost (Score:4, Informative)
There's a related story about an otherwise healthy teenager developing DVT after only 10 hours [bbc.co.uk] playing on a game console.
No word on any lawsuit, but the doctor is quoted as saying "However, it doesn't mean that the government should be putting health warnings on Playstations."
Re:Almost (Score:3, Funny)
Re:Almost (Score:2)
I'm old enough to have teenage kids, and young enough to remember being one myself, and one of the things about teenage boys is the way they typically sit, or rather sprawl.
This kind of thing makes me think they're on to something. I've never been one to make a big deal about "sitting properly" (although posture is another matter!) and now I'm thinking I should be positively
Re:I'm just waiting... (Score:1)
Re:I'm just waiting... (Score:2)
WTF? (Score:1)
Re:WTF? (Score:1)
Re:WTF? (Score:2)
Yes, breaks are important. Personally, if I don't get up and stretch at least once every couple of hours I feel stiff and uncomfortable, which tends to break my concentration anyway.
Re:WTF? (Score:5, Funny)
Of course. Otherwise all your code ends up on one line, and it gets really hard to read.
Re:WTF? (Score:1)
Re:WTF? (Score:2)
Prevention of DVTs (Score:3, Informative)
1) Venous Stasis. (Usually caused by not moving your legs/walking for hours at a time, such as in a long car/plane ride, or I guess 8hr. coding sessions)
2) Hypercoaguable state (Usually a predisposition to increased likelihood of clood clotting, such as being pregnant, having cancer, being on estrogen, smoking, certain genetic defects, etc.)
3) Injury to the leg.
So #1 was in play, but if he had risk factors such as #2 or #3, that would have makedly increased his risk for a DVT.
Ironically, he could have prevented venous stasis by a simple method such as this every 1-2 hours...
http://www.ntk.net/media/developers.mpg [ntk.net]
Re:Prevention of DVTs (Score:2)
How dare you not toe the Slashdot line about sedentary geeks destroying their bodies (with a gleeful sense of self-debasement)?
;-)
Kudos on making a very good point that everyone else seems to have overlooked - Prolonged sitting factors into such problems, but rarely causes them in isolation.
For a simple proof-of-concept, why don't we constantly hear about paraplegics dying of DVT? (a
Re:Prevention of DVTs (Score:2)
Re:Prevention of DVTs (Score:2)
"But dear, if I stop doing this I may get DVT, and be in excrutiating pain, and on blood thinners for the rest of my life!"
Re:Prevention of DVTs (Score:2)
Duh? (Score:1)
This has been discussed before... (Score:4, Informative)
These were my comments:
http://slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=52201&cid=518
That said, I still suffer from blood clots and have been taking warfarin for over 3 years now. I can say with some certainty that if he got a clot after sitting for eight hours, it actually only revealed itself then. He's been clotting for a while.
I'm more active now, cycling minimum 100km a week and lots of walking at work and at home... but I still sit for many hours.
I recommend to anyone who works as I do, even with breaks and regualr exercise, watch yourself. Not to be an alarmist but be wary of any pain or inflammation in your calves and thighs. The alternative just ain't worth not taking precautions.
back pain (Score:2)
My suggestion, is that you exercise or do yoga or something other than coding. Also take breaks every 45 minutes and get up and move around. It will also help with CTS.
Re:back pain (Score:3, Informative)
The main problem I have with their approach is that it corrects the symptoms without addres
Re:back pain (Score:2)
Re:back pain (Score:2)
um (Score:1)
like, duh..
He must have a big bladder (Score:1)
Re:He must have a big bladder (Score:2)
But drinking plenty of liquids is good benefits two fold for DVT. You will have to get up more, and better hydration is more healthy.
I have had deep vein thrombosis (Score:4, Interesting)
Not funny, but not a great hassle either. I have to get my blood tested every three or four weeks, and get my warfarin dose adjusted. It's a nuisance when I fall off my bike, because I tend to bleed a lot.
I'm supposed to get up and move about fairly regularly during the day, and mostly I remember to do that. And I do need to take regular exercise (which is why I cycle a lot). But it's something you can live with. I don't like having to take warfarin, but it isn't the end of the world.
Re:I have had deep vein thrombosis (Score:3, Interesting)
It just seemed a factoid fitting for Slashdot. Of course the right dosage can help people which need it http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Warfarin [wikipedia.org]
Got It (Score:5, Informative)
A week of self-administered heparin (sp?) injections, three months of warfarin/coumadin with bi-weekly pt/inr blood tests (to adjust the coumadin dosage) and the lifelong worry that it'll act up again. I've had it reappear three times so far though I've been able to keep out of the hospital.
And it can definitely kill you. If a clot travels to the lungs or your heart you're in for a rough time. David Bloom, a reporter in Iraq, (somewhat) recently died [usatoday.com] from DVT due to sitting in a cramped M88 for days, hours at a time.
I guess what I'm saying is trust me, get up and walk around every hour or so. DVT blows.
Similar Situation (Score:5, Interesting)
After a few months, you won't need drugs and you won't have to worry about DVT. And you'll end up really good at it, :-). Anyway, I have a similar job and that was the most economical solution that I found.
Hippyfreak (Score:2)
Smoking is good for you... (Score:3, Funny)
what I do (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:what I do (Score:3, Interesting)
Just three words (Score:4, Informative)
A place for more info (Score:5, Informative)
Speaking out of experience...Long haul driver...Undiagnosed DVT that moved to my lung...Called a Pulmonary Embolism (PE).
5 days in hospital on Heparin with little or no movement allowed, because the clot could move to your heart (heart attack) or brain (stroke/aneurysm); one year on Coumadin (warfarin, btw is also a rat poison) with twice-weekly to monthly prothrombin checks to guarantee no wild swings (too much clotting vs hemophiliac-like bleeding); and, up until recently, aspirin regimen to decrease normal clotting once I was taken off the Coumadin.
I say up until recently because now, after being off Coumadin for 2-1/2 years I now have venous stasis in my other leg - I knew the symptoms of pre-DVT. Now currently taking Plavix and am getting compression stockings. I seem to be too good at sitting at my job!
Important to know: Once you get it once you are at a very high risk for getting it again!
Just move your legs (Score:2)
Even wiggling your toes increases blood flow.
Looking at certain images on the net can increase blood flow (but to other parts of the body).
Re:Just move your legs (Score:2)
The best option (Score:1)
Re:No it doesn't! (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:No it doesn't! (Score:1, Funny)
No boss, I'm not getting comfy - I'm preventing injury and the resultant workers compensation claim!
Re:No it doesn't! (Score:2)
1) low cabin pressure
2) lower oxygen concentrations
(not sure if lower humidity plays a part - but might do due to dehydration?)
Naturally some people are more susceptible than others.
But seems they've done studies comparing the scenarios - with and without the low pressure etc stuff, and in non-air cabin scenarios most of the volunteers are unlikely to have developed DVT, compared to the air cabin scenarios. I'm wondering if the US lawsuit happ
Re:No it doesn't! (Score:4, Informative)
Correction to article: (Score:2)
Re:No it doesn't! (Score:2)
Re:No it doesn't! (Score:2)
"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."
Hallelujah. An intelligent comment on Slashdot. Who'da thunk it?
I have DVT and ya know, I wish this point was made much more frequently. I now tend to sit with my feet on "rests" that place no pressure on the area where the leg hangs over the chair.
Re:No it doesn't! (Score:2)
I sleep for eight hours without moving much and haven't yet woken up in the ICU.
No you don't. You shift around every 45 minutes to an hour. If you didn't move for 8 hours, you'd end up with a bedsore.
-1 Moderation, Stupid American Bashing (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:-1 Moderation, Stupid American Bashing (Score:2)
Re:-1 Moderation, Stupid American Bashing (Score:2)
Re:-1 Moderation, Stupid American Bashing (Score:3, Funny)
Re:-1 Moderation, Stupid American Bashing (Score:2)
We get:
American TV,
American hamburgers,
American Jeans,
American cowboyhats (well, some do...),
American drinks (luckely no American beers, we're copying, but we're not masochists),
American T-shirts,
American words
You might spot a little trend here.
Re: (Score:2)
Re:-1 Moderation, Stupid American Bashing (Score:5, Funny)
But then you'd upset the Canadians. : p
Re:OK we need more info on this... (Score:1)
this reasoning is intuitive but wrong (Score:3, Informative)
a soccer player: www.pubmedcentral.nih.gov/articlerender.fcgi?arti
a skier: www.thrombosisjournal.com/content/2/1/8
Re:this reasoning is intuitive but wrong (Score:2, Funny)
Coincidentally if the soccer player weighs less than or the same as a duck that makes the programmer a witch and he must be burned at the stake as well.
Great logic there.
Re:this reasoning is intuitive but wrong (Score:2)
Re:OK we need more info on this... (Score:2)
It was because of the sitting (Score:3, Insightful)
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 whe
Re:OK we need more info on this... (Score:2, Funny)
Re:OK we need more info on this... (Score:2)
Re:OK we need more info on this... (Score:3, Funny)
In your face, Hawaii!
It isn't? (Score:2)
Re:OK we need more info on this... (Score:2)
Re:OK we need more info on this... (Score:1)