by Peter G. Hanson, M.D. | Dec 26, 2013 | Ergonomics, Exercise, Health
Work injuries used to be from highly mobile tasks of hunting and gathering, for which the body was actually well designed. So the injuries tended to be from pure accident, rather than from enforced ergonomics. This changed with the industrial age, when we started to...
by Peter G. Hanson, M.D. | Nov 12, 2013 | Depression, Ergonomics, Exercise, Health, Heart Disease, Obesity, Prevention
Times have certainly changed. Smokers were “cool” in the early days of movies, and they were even hailed by doctors in media ads. Smoking became so popular that anyone who didn’t light up at work was considered “anti-social”. Today,...
by Peter G. Hanson, M.D. | Oct 22, 2011 | Ergonomics, Exercise, Health, Managing Stress
The human body was built for “hunting and gathering”, not “hunt-and-peck” typing. Our DNA and our evolution is built on movement. However, we now have invented a work form that is virtually movement-free: the modern office. Instead of walking, foraging and farming, we...
by Peter G. Hanson, M.D. | Apr 19, 2011 | Diet, Exercise, Health
Constipation, or passing stool with difficulty less than three times a week, is a common reaction to modern stress. This is at first glance curious, because our bodies were hard-wired for centuries for the exact opposite response. In...
by Peter G. Hanson, M.D. | Jan 2, 2011 | Pain, Pain control, Stress, Stress Strategies, Time Management
Back pain has become more common in the computer age than it was in the agricultural age. This may appear puzzling, because we are no longer working the land, we are now working the hand. Or at least both hands, at a keyboard. So how does the modern worker contract...
