Love Binge-watching? Here is Why it is Unhealthy And Can Even Result in Fatal Blood Clots
For representational purpose only

Until recent not having a plan on the weekend was not a cool thing among socialisers, everybody wanted to get out. Be it partying, going out for a movie or a catching up friends, cooking, people wanted a plan to work on. But, the trend has gone through a major change, so much so that people now prefer sitting at home binge-watching shows. With social acceptance to it, binge-watching has almost become a trend and mostly the youth happily do it. With popcorn or chips (Read: fat) in hand, sitting in front of laptop screens or TV sets have become the coolest thing to be done on a weekend. And with entertainment portals like Netflix providing quality content according to the requirement of a user, the trend is only going uphill.

However, not binge-watching definitely comes with its side-effects. According to a study published in the Journal of Thrombosis and Thrombolysis, spending too much time in front of the television could increase the chances of developing fatal blood clots. Sitting in a place continuously with no movement to the legs and hands for long hours can have bad effects on the body.

Here are the details of the survey:

The research analysed the data of 15,158 people aged between 45 and 64. They were asked about their health status and if they exercise or smoke if they were overweight or not.

All the survey respondents who have a tendency to watch television "very often" have a 1.7 times higher chance of developing clots in the legs and pulmonary embolisms, which are often referred to as deep vein thrombosis, compared to those who never or seldom watch.

The study states that prolonged sitting can even decrease the normal circulation of blood through legs and feet.

It can also have similar effects on people who exercise regularly.

While watching shows cannot be harmful, it is the sedentary lifestyle that leads to these health problems.

Binge-watching has become so mainstream that TV series like Portlandia have spoofed it in a dark comedy segment. Here is the video:

Recently, after Netflix completed one year in the country, they revealed the data on the first time bingeing trends of Indians on the portal. While globally it takes 12 days for the majority of Netflix users to start binge-watching shows, it said that Indians at an average took only 5 days to start their first binge.

At an age and time, when inactive lifestyle is already in place, the binging trend is adding to the substandard ways we are already following. This is worse than being a couch potato that not only adds calories but also makes you feel inactive. While new age entertainment platforms are promoting the habit extensively with eye catchy discounts and offers, users fall for it. However, the grave side-effects that follow should be not ignored, mainly when they can be as severed as blood clots.