Watching TV too much can cause pulmonary embolism

If you watch TV for 5 hours or more a day, your risk of death is twice as high as someone who watches less than 2.5 hours.

Watching TV is a dangerous habit because inactivity can easily cause blood clots to form in the lungs, leading to pulmonary embolism.

Photo: TIME.

The study, conducted by Osaka University, looked at the TV viewing habits of 86,000 volunteers aged 40 to 79. Over 19 years, the authors recorded 59 deaths from pulmonary embolism, a dangerous condition caused by inactivity. Pulmonary embolism usually starts with a blood clot somewhere in the body, traveling to the lungs, blocking a blood vessel and causing death.

"The rate of pulmonary embolism in Japan is relatively low compared to the West but is increasing," said study author Professor Hiroyasu Iso. "Japanese people are infected with a sedentary lifestyle, which increases the risk of disease."

The authors conclude that if xIf you watch TV for 5 hours or more a day, your risk of death is twice as high as someone who watches less than 2.5 hours. For every 2 hours you add to your daily TV viewing time, you increase your risk of pulmonary embolism by 40%.

Faced with these results, scientists expressed concern about the habit of watching TV, especially watching long-running TV series. He recommended that to protect your health, after every hour of watching TV, you should stand up, stretch your muscles and walk around. In addition, take 5 minutes to relax your leg muscles during the time you spend sitting in front of the screen.

According to VNE