Watching too much television could cause fatal blood clots

Binge-watching your favourite series on Netflix almost doubles the chance of fatal blood clots, an analysis suggests.

Those who answered they ‘very often’ sit down in front of the TV screen face a 1.7 times higher risk of venous thromboembolism (VTE).

This is the umbrella term for deep vein thrombosis, a clot in the legs, and pulmonary embolism, when the clot travels to the lungs.

Prolonged sitting can in some cases lead to blood clots because normal circulation of blood through the legs and feet is impaired.

However, researchers discovered exercising may not even counter the damaging effects of sitting down for such long periods of time.

Those who answered they ‘very often’ sit down in front of the TV screen face a 1.7 times higher risk of venous thromboembolism (VTE)

University of Minnesota scientists found the risk of VTE remained high, even when weight and exercise levels were taken into account.

The conclusion adds to the growing array of evidence highlighting the dangers of watching TV, the most common sedentary behaviour around the world.

It was derived from data of 15,150 adults over 24 years.

Participants were asked in 1987 about their health status, whether they exercised or smoked and whether they were overweight or not.

IS IT SAFE FOR ME TO FLY AFTER GETTING DEEP VEIN THROMBOSIS ON A PLANE PREVIOUSLY?

By Dr Martin Scurr

A key risk factor is inactivity; air travel actually poses no greater threat than sitting for a long period of time with your legs hanging down, in a car or train for example.

In this position, the blood flows more sluggishly through the deep veins, making it more likely to pool and clot.

For anyone travelling for more than two hours, the advice is to wear compression stockings, which squeeze the legs tightly so superficial veins are pressed almost flat, allowing blood to flow more quickly through deep veins.

Moving about during a journey is essential, as using the leg muscles increases blood flow in the veins — when flying, aim to squeeze down the aisle at least once every two hours.

Drinking plenty of water is also important as dehydration makes the blood more likely to clot (alcohol is forbidden as it can make you more dehydrated).

They stayed in close contact with the researchers, who counted 691 incidences of VTEs among the group of participants in 2011.

The study placed patients into four groups depending on how often they said they watched television. They were: never or seldom, sometimes, often or very often.

Researchers, led by Dr Yasuhiko Kubota, then calculated their risk of VTE, which is most common in adults over the age of 60.

Figures estimate up to 300,000 people in the US suffer from VTE each year, while blood clots strike one in every 1,000 adults annually in the UK.

It can be caused by long airplane flights, because legs can be stuck in the same position for hours at a time, and medical treatments.

Dr Kubota said: ‘Avoiding frequent TV viewing, increasing physical activity and controlling body weight might be beneficial to prevent VTE.’

‘Even individuals who regularly engage in physical activity should not ignore the potential harms of prolonged sedentary behaviors such as TV viewing.’

The findings, published in Journal of Thrombosis and Thrombolysis, follow a similar study by Australian researchers last September.

They found binge-watching your favourite series could lead you to an early grave from dementia, Parkinson’s disease or diabetes.

Perched on a sofa to watch two hour-long episodes each day increases the risk of an inflammatory-related death by 54 per cent.

Read more at DailyMail.co.uk