Couch Potatoes and Heart Disease

A new study in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology set out to find if prolonged sitting was linked to cardiovascular diseases.  Actually the doctors called the study “Screen-Based Entertainment Time, All-Cause Mortality, and Cardiovascular Events” where “screen based entertainment” is more commonly known as TV and or computer – leave it to doctors to come up with a title like that.

After following 4,512 Scottish people from 2003 to 2007 and recording their screen viewing time and their health, Emmanuel Stamatakis, PhD, MSc, Department of Epidemiology and Public Health, University College London, United Kingdom said:

“People who spend excessive amounts of time in front of a screen — primarily watching TV — are more likely to die of any cause and suffer heart-related problems.  Our analysis suggests that two or more hours of screen time each day may place someone at greater risk for a cardiac event.”

The study found that those people who spent two or more hours per day in front of a screen for leisure activities were double the risk of heart attack or other cardiac event compared with those who spent less sedentary time in front of a screen.  Those in the study who had four or more hours of screen time were fifty percent more likely to die of any cause.  One surprising fact in the study was that it did not matter if they were physically active for several other hours in the week in other words exercise in addition to being a couch potato did not improve the heart health of those in this study.

According to Doctor Emmanuel Stamatakis approximately 25% of the association between screen time and cardiovascular disease events was explained collectively by C-reactive protein.  Extended periods of sitting may cause high levels of low-grade inflammation which can lead to heart disease.  A marker of low-grade inflammation called C reactive protein or CRP was about three times higher in the study participants who spent the most time sitting in front of a screen.

While the study covered recreational screen time since that was the easiest for people to have a choice in, Dr. Stamatakis mentioned that people with jobs that require extended sitting and screen time should take breaks and short walks throughout the day.

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