Invited to lead a conference at the Bastia theatre, as part of the MASH’s international medical congress, Professor François Carré, cardiologist and sports doctor, warns of the dangers of a sedentary lifestyle which induces chronic diseases, even in young people
Passing through Bastia to host a medical conference, did you come to tell people that it was time to move?
The population must realize that health depends on it. We often believe when an illness occurs that it is because our father was sick or our mother, but in reality, this is not correct. There are five factors that are harmful to our health: tobacco, excessive alcohol consumption. We have more trouble with the other three: unbalanced nutrition, sedentary time and insufficient physical activity time. Finally, more recently, sleep disorders.
In one of your speeches, you explained that in 1950, people practiced 5 hours of sport per day, today less than 20 minutes. A change not without consequences?
We have gone from a hunter-gatherer who walked nearly 15 km a day to a world where everything is done to make our lives easier. What I have a problem with is that when you offer a robot that mows the lawn, a vacuum cleaner that works by itself, the person who used to do these tasks will sit down and wait for the time to pass. However, unfortunately our body cannot function well if we do not move. We only have 2% different genes with the homo sapiens ancestor. Him, to survive, he favored the storage of fats, and the genes that allowed him to be very efficient in killing animals without a gun. We move less but we still stimulate fat storage genes because we eat too much.
One of the factors of obesity is junk food but also the way we practice sport?
For sure ! You can very well be a sedentary athlete.
But what is an athlete?
It is someone who does a programmed physical activity, which he will repeat for the purpose of performance. The person who does one hour of sport a day and spends 11 hours sitting is a sedentary athlete. I have to do at least two hours of sport a day to compensate for the effects of ten hours of sitting time. Sitting for a long time, you go into hibernation. We also feel the cold because we are falling asleep. My heart pump, which should normally receive 5 liters of blood per minute, only receives 4.5 liters. I have blood left in my legs.
What happens then?
When the pump is deactivated, the brain is no longer perfused. The best proof is that the more time I spend in front of the screen, the more difficult it is for me to understand what is written there. If I get up and walk, everything starts up again. This applies to all organs. Sitting, the pancreas releases less insulin which fights diabetes, blood sugar, blood pressure as cholesterol rises.
Are the technical developments supposed to make our lives easier making us sick?
Absolutely ! Unless we realize it. To offer an electric scooter to your child is to wish him harm. A child who does not move will be a sedentary adult. When we say that children should not exceed two hours of screen time per day, it is because we have more depression in these inactive children. But the population does not hear what is explained to them.
What is paradoxical is that the practice of sport seems to have become more democratic?
The problem isn’t doing sports, it’s getting up and walking because that’s what will stimulate the genes that will release molecules that only work for 24 to 36 hours. Exercising on Wednesdays and Sundays is better than nothing, but it won’t prevent you from being sick or overweight.
What advice do you give?
Those of the World Health Organization. I have to limit the time spent sitting during the day.
An answer that is not necessarily obvious for people who work in offices?
The other solution is a sedentary lifestyle while moving. Just place a pedalboard under his desk and pedal for 5 minutes every 30 minutes.
What are the consequences of this physical inactivity?
All chronic diseases are favored by a sedentary lifestyle and physical inactivity. Everyone knows about heart attacks and diabetes, but we also talk about cancers. Six hours of sitting in front of the television doubles your risk of cancer compared to three hours of sitting. You are a woman, you do physical activity, you reduce the risk of having breast cancer by 20%. You unfortunately have breast cancer, you combine physical activity with conventional treatment, you reduce mortality by 35%. Neurologists say it: brain food is physical activity.
Can sport be dangerous for health?
In some cases, there is overtraining, that is, the person has exceeded the balance between sport and rest. To be good at sport, you also need to rest well. The worst addiction today is that of the chair.
Do you also advise heart patients to practice?
Absolutely ! For a long time, I was the first to tell my patients to rest. It’s the worst thing. Go for a walk can rest. We are talking about sports on prescription. These recommendations have just been published by the national institute of Inserm: the non-prescription of physical activity is a loss of chance for the patient.
Has medicine evolved on this question?
No it’s worse. In our medical studies, we are not taught that. In France out of 100 patients who go to see a doctor, 80 come out with medication, in Denmark they are 44. Life expectancy in good health, without disability in Sweden is 10 years longer than in France.
To age better, move! What is your prescription?
You should know that physical inactivity and a sedentary lifestyle kill more than tobacco. Among young people, today we have illnesses of old people. The first cause of cardiac arrest in France, before the age of 30, is myocardial infarction when I was a young cardiologist, it was 45 years old. 15-year-old college students are currently preparing for their 30-year-old heart attack.
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