6 ways your office job is killing you: from disease-infested keyboards to stressful superiors

Forget Halloween, the scariest thing you’ll encounter this week is your desk job
Stressed at work?
Rex
Liz Connor30 October 2015

We all know there can be days at work where you feel like your workload will be the death of you.

Well, it turns out you’re might be on to something. The office is a hotbed for all manner of mental and physical ailments which we regularly expose ourselves to, but rarely notice. Here are a handful of unhealthy work habits you should be aware of...

Using a laptop can lower your fertility

Nascentis Centre for Reproductive Medicine in Cordoba discovered that a personal computer using wi-fi that is placed near male reproductive organs reduced sperm quality and the chances of men experiencing fatherhood. Scientists found sperm placed under a laptop that used wireless technology suffered more damage than specimens kept at the same temperature but away from a wi-fi signal. Yikes!

Sleep deprivation can lead to long-term problems

Pulling regular all-nighters is linked to weight gain, diabetes, heart disease, and cutting into your bed time by working over ten hours increases your risk for a variety of cardiovascular problems by 60 per cent.

Cleaned your keyboard recently?

A keyboard left to fester can contribute to your risk of contracting E. Coli and coliforms; not to mention all that repeated typing can cause carpal tunnel syndrome.

Skipping breakfast can lead to health problems

If you constantly find yourself rushing out of the door without pausing for breakfast, you may be headed for trouble, say scientists. Leah Cahill, PhD, of the Harvard School of Public Health found that women who skipped breakfast regularly had a 20 per cent increased risk of developing type 2 diabetes and that men who go without a morning meal are more prone to heart disease.

The best apps for Londoners

1/12

Stress is a slow killer

Do you ever stop and measure how stressed out you are in work? Does it stem from a tricky boss?

Long-term chronic stress can wreck your nervous system through a cyclic adrenaline rush. Increased stress means we produce more cortisol, a hormone which is in your blood if the levels of this hormone remain too high, this can affect the immune system and our bodies become more susceptible to stress-related illnesses and flu viruses. It can stoke symptoms such as headache, achy neck, ulcer, allergies, and diminished sexual desire. Too much stress, over time, can exhaust you, your adrenal glands where cortisol is produced, and accelerate the aging process, harm your immune system, and even shrink vital brain tissue resulting in memory loss and problems with concentration.

Sitting down all day isn’t good for you either

Studies have linked excessive sitting with being overweight and obese, type 2 diabetes, some types of cancer, and premature death. A study of almost 800,000 people found that, compared with those who sat the least, people who sat the longest had a 112 per cent increase in risk of diabetes, 147 per cent increase in cardiovascular events, 90 per cent increase in death caused by cardiovascular events and a 49 per cent increase in death from any cause.Not to mention being inactive is the leading cause of deep vein thrombosis,.

I think it’s time we all booked a week off, don’t you?

Follow us on Twitter: @eslifeandstyle

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in