Experts consider remote work a “major obstacle” to digestive health

Experts said on Saturday that working remotely by promoting a sedentary lifestyle is a “major obstacle” to digestive health, stressing that the demand for counseling is currently driven by IBS, a change closely related to stress.

“In fact, telecommuting is a major obstacle to digestive health,” said Gilherme Macedo, Director of the Gastroenterology Service at the Centro Hospitalar Universitário de São João (CHUSJ) in Porto.

According to the expert, by promoting a sedentary lifestyle – a factor that affects “deteriorating digestive health” in various ways – in addition to the accumulation of substances resulting from the digestive process, remote work has contributed to the “conditioning” of digestive health. And portuguese.

The doctor and professor at the Faculty of Medicine at the University of Porto said, “Between reflux disease and obesity, passing through irritable bowel syndrome and ending with hemorrhoids, it is, in fact, an ordeal that was encouraged by remote work and not helped.” (FMUP).

Ricardo Marcos-Pinto, a gastroenterologist at the Centro Hospitalar e Universitário do Porto (CHUP) also highlighted the “significant impact” of remote work on gastrointestinal diseases, namely irritable bowel syndrome, a functional change estimated to affect 15% of Portuguese population. .

The doctor emphasized that irritable bowel syndrome, which is characterized by pain in the abdomen, stomach and intestines, constipation and diarrhea, “is a manifestation of daily anxiety,” adding that with no definition, there were many requests for advice about these symptoms.

“What we saw in our patients was that they got worse with telecommuting, with the fact that they were at home and couldn’t leave. We saw compensation that was slightly proportional to anxiety and depression,” said Ricardo Marcos-Pinto. He is also a Professor at the Abel Salazar Institute of Biomedical Sciences at the University of Porto (ICBAS).

For Guilherme Macedo, remote work “amplified” situations that troubled digestive health, such as obesity and sleep disturbances.

He said, “There is a vicious circle here. Instead of hindering the factors to disappear, no. All these conditions prolong this cycle. Everything is strengthened.”

Like irritable bowel syndrome, the discomfort in the abdomen – associated with a “sedentary lifestyle” – was also reflected in specialist counseling.

“The feeling of discomfort is clearly linked to this sedentary life people have lived in the last year. This was a result for us in all the consultations,” the doctor said.

According to the Director of the Gastroenterology Service, only physical exercise and nutritional precautions can help counter the consequences of remote work.

He stressed that “the common axis is regular physical exercise, and individual movement and the movement of the digestive system are essential for biological balance.”

Ricardo Marcos-Pinto added that in addition to physical exercises, it is necessary to “return to routine and restore personal relationships again”, as well as “to resume performances.”

According to the doctor, who is also the coordinator of the investigation committee of the Portuguese Gastroenterological Association, the routine screening, that is, colorectal cancer, “moved to the background” and connected patients “in already advanced stages of the disease.”

Ricardo Marcos-Pinto said: “In gastroenterology we have never seen an advanced disease as we see it now. We see what we have not seen for many years, in very advanced stages and sometimes without really treatment,” referring to the deaths of 11 Portuguese. Today with this type of cancer, colonoscopy can prevent and prevent these numbers.