Braincell-killing television watching apparently can just outright kill you too.
One of the biggest problems in our society is the amount of time we spent watching television, and streaming has done nothing helpful in decreasing the time we spent in front of our televisions. On top of all this, lockdowns from pandemics have made people more sedentary in front of their television.
Venous thromboembolism (VTE), which is a blood clot that is formed in the vein of the legs that may ultimately break off and travel to the blood system of the lungs, where it will subsequently lodge and shut off the vital blood flow of the cardiopulmonary system; this is called pulmonary embolism. Ultimately, the end result may end up being cardiac arrest and respiratory failure. There are various causes and risk factors associated with VTE forming and common ones include prolonged immobilization, cancer, and obesity.
In meta-analysis published in the European Journal of Preventive Cardiologies, Dr. Setur Kunutsor and colleagues from the University of Bristol found that regardless of physical activity, watching four hours or more of television per day was associated with a 35% higher risk of VTE compared to 2.5 hours or less.
The analysis included three studies totaling 131,421 subjects that were 40 years and older without history of having VTE. Questionnaires had asked them the frequency of watching televisions. Follow-up average was between 5 to 20 years with 964 participants developing VTE. The researchers found that people who watch television for four hours or more was 1.35 times more likely to develop VTE.
Controlling variables, they found that “regardless of physical activity, your BMI, how old you are and your gender, watching many hours of television is a risky activity with regards to developing blood clots,” stated Kunutsor.
He then concluded, “”Our results suggest that we should limit the time we spend in front of the television. Long periods of TV watching should be interspersed with movement to keep the circulation going. Generally speaking, if you sit a lot in your daily life — for example your work involves sitting for hours at a computer — be sure to get up and move around from time to time.”
So limit your time spent in from of the television and how much crap you watch. Better yet, try not having television. Instead, use that time to spend on learning and applying skills. Take a dance or martial art class. It helps no one for you to just mindlessly binge watch television…except perhaps the streaming service or the broadcasting company, but they don’t care about your health.
SK Kunutsor et al. Television viewing and venous thrombosis-embolism: a systematic review and meta-analysis. European Journal of Preventive Cardiology 2022. Published 01/20/2022. https://doi.org/10.1093/eurjpc/zwab220
