Right now you're probably sitting comfortably on a chair with your PC or laptop in front of you.

Perhaps you're even thinking of moving over to the couch to watch TV after taking your car to the store to get some snacks.

In other words, you're going to spend most of the time in the next couple of hours siting down.

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Sounds nice? It is but it wouldn't be if you realize there's this thing called a "sitting disease." 

This refers to how most of us are glued to our chairs for many hours - even most of a day - in front of the PC, TV, in cars or at the office.

"A recent analysis suggests, there are 34 chronic diseases and conditions associated with excess sitting," endocrinologist James Levine told US Today.

Levine is co-director of Obesity Solutions at the Mayo Clinic in Phoenix and Arizona State University.

After researching "sitting diseases" for three decades, he wrote the book, Get Up! Why Your Chair Is Killing You and What You Can Do About It. 

"We hope, that getting up more, reduces the risk of all of those things, even if the prospective studies on several of those conditions have not yet been conducted", he said.

However, one study showed that sitting less may lead to a longer life. So it should be worth considering what to do instead.

Actually, there's a lot you can do without having to take a daily hour of torture at work.

Studies have shown that most people spend 10 to 15 hours a day sitting down. If only 10 minutes of each hour is spent out of the chair, chances of living longer will already be enhanced.

You can take a walk around the block, do a little house cleaning or gardening, take your kids for a walk in the park or whatever changes your sitting position to an upright moving position.

Sitting disease has been linked to increased risks of Type 2 diabetes, cognitive decline and disability in people over 60. Even death from cancer, heart disease or stroke.

You still here? Maybe it's time now to get up and get your 10 minutes.

The chances are that the more you move, the more you like it.

TagsMayo Clinic