WEB DESK: We spend hours watching television, which is not just a time-wasting practice but could also turn deadly, literally killing you. A new study published in the journal Circulation have revealed that the amount of watching TV could raise the risk of death from a blood clot in the lungs.

The research was conducted by a Japanese team from Osaka University. The researchers studied the viewing habits of some 86,000 people between 1988 and 1990 and monitoring their health over the next 19 years, BBC reported.

The results found were quite shocking and depressing for the TV addicts, as for every extra two hours of TV watched per day, the risk of fatal pulmonary embolism (PE) increased by 40 percent. Whereas, those stick to television for five hours or more, the risk of PE rose 2.5 times.

Toru Shirakawa, M.D., study first author and a research fellow in public health at Osaka University Graduate School of Medicine, was of the view that rapid rise in number of hours consumed in watching television, maybe a result of ‘binge-watching,’ the practice of watching multiple episodes of a television programme in rapid succession, reported American Health Association.

“Nowadays, with online video streaming, the term ‘binge-watching’ to describe viewing multiple episodes of television programs in one sitting has become popular,” said Shirakawa. “This popularity may reflect a rapidly growing habit.”

Reports added that the most common symptoms of pulmonary embolism are chest pain and shortness of breath, which are similar to other life-threatening conditions. However diagnosis is a difficult process requiring imaging that many hospitals cannot provide.

Copyright Reuters, 2016