8/01/2008

News Item

Desk job partly blamed for woman's death

A coroner says a New Zealand woman died from a blood clot that developed partly because of her desk job.

The finding could lead to a dramatic overhaul of workplace health and safety guidelines.

Catherine Jane Pearce, 41, died suddenly at her Wellington home in August 2005 after a blood clot travelled to her lungs from her heart.

Coroner Garry Evans has asked for his findings to be sent to New Zealand's Department of Labour for it to consider in relation to occupational health and safety.

Pearce had been taking the third generation contraceptive pill Mercilon 28 for more than nine years at the time of her death.

Her sister, Jill Hutson, told the coroner's court Pearce was also an avid reader whose reading position would be to curl her legs under her, and she also travelled at regular intervals.

She added that Pearce was a "workaholic" who worked a nine or 10 hour day, spending most of her time sitting.

Richard Beasley, director of the Medical Research Institute of New Zealand, told the inquest that people who sat for prolonged periods in their work and/or recreation may be at risk of developing blood clots.

Doctors had named the disorder "Seated Immobility Thromboembolism Syndrome (SIT)", he said.

This also included seated activities such as air, train or car travel.

Evans concluded that Pearce developed the blood clot from a combination of using the contraceptive pill, having recently returned from a trip from Australia, sitting for long periods at work and sitting at home with her legs curled beneath her.

source: http://news.smh.com.au/desk-job-partly-blamed-for-womans-death/20080108-1ku4.html