Binge-watching your favourite series ‘increases your risk of silent killer by a THIRD’
WE’RE all guilty of binge-watching a TV series in the space of a few days or even hours.
But if it’s a regular habit, you could be in trouble.
Scientists have claimed those who watch the most TV have a 35 per cent increased risk of a silent killer condition.
Venous thromboembolism (VTE) is when a blood clot forms in a vein, blocking blood flow and potentially leading to death.
There are two types - deep vein thrombosis (DVT), when a clot forms in a deep vein, usually the leg, and pulmonary embolism (PE), when a DVT travels to the lungs.
It can happen at any age, although is more common in over 60s, and is a leading cause of death and disability globally.
A new analysis of research looked into whether VTE is more frequent in TV couch potatoes.
They looked at three studies between 2016 and 2021, involving more than 131,400 people in the US and Japan.
Most read in Health
All participants had been asked about their exercise, age, BMI, and how much time they spent in front of the TV each day.
The findings, based on following the outcomes of participants for up to 20 years, were published in the European Journal of Preventive Cardiology.
Those who watched TV for more than four hours per day had a 35 per cent higher risk of developing VTE than those who watched TV for less than 2.5 hours per day.
This rang true even when researchers accounted for other VTE risk factors, such as age or how much exercise participants said they did.
Pass the remote
The most common triggers for VTE are surgery, cancer, hospitalisation and being imobile.
But it has long been known that those who spend much more time sitting may be at an increased risk of blood clotting.
For that reason, it’s not the act of watching hours of TV that is harmful, but doing it while sitting for such long periods of time.
Every “one last episode” adds on another hour or so to the time you spend sprawled on the sofa.
Working in a job that requires sitting all day - such as a driver or office worker - are therefore likely to be at risk, too, experts say.
Dr Setor Kunutsor, lead author of the study from Bristol Medical School (THS), told : “[These results also apply] to people whose jobs involve being stationary for a long time — jobs that involve sitting for a long time.
“This is the reason why some employers encourage employees to stand and move about more regularly. The use of standing desks is very useful for such jobs.”
It’s also possible that the link between TV and blood clots is a marker of a general unhealthy lifestyle.
For example, it may be that those who watch the most TV tend to snack more, which could cause them to be overweight - another risk factor for blood clots.
But the study did not account for people’s diet, or other bad habits such as smoking.
Does exercise help?
How people spend the rest of their day outside of TV watching was also not studied, for example if they work sitting at a desk or running around a hospital all day.
Dr Kunutsor said doing exercise - for example an hour at the gym - may be able to balance out the hours you spend sitting down.
The largest study of this kind found that just three minutes of moderate exercise for every hour of sedentary activity can slash the risk of early death - just over half an hour for someone who spent 11 hours per day sitting.
READ MORE SUN STORIES
This, the researchers said in 2021, can offset the harms of prolonged periods of inactivity.
However, the research suggested that half an hour of exercise was not enough for people who sat for more than 11 to 12 hours a day.
Why is sitting so bad for you?
Studies have linked being inactive with being overweight and obese, type 2 diabetes, some types of cancer, and early death.
Sitting for long periods is thought to slow the metabolism, which affects the body's ability to regulate blood sugar, blood pressure and break down body fat, the NHS says.
Sitting around all day is as bad for your health as smoking, researchers said in July 2016.
Workers who barely move from their desks for eight hours were found to be 60 per cent more likely to die prematurely.
The scientists found that sedentary lifestyles now pose as great a threat to public health as smoking, causing deaths from heart disease and cancer.
A study in March 2019 said desk jobs and lazy nights in front of the TV kills nearly 70,000 a year and costs the NHS £700million.
To reduce our risk of ill health from inactivity, the NHS advise to exercise regularly, at least 150 minutes a week, and reduce sitting time.