Binge watching TV programmes could kill you, according to Japanese scientists

Watching too much TV can kill you, according to a new study.

Japanese scientists say that watching TV for hours can raise the risk of dying from a blood clot in the lungs.

Researchers studied the viewing habits of 86,000 people between 1988 and 1990 - then monitored their health over the next 19 years.

Bad news for fans of box sets - for every extra two hours of TV watched per day, the risk of fatal pulmonary embolism (PE) increased by 40%.

Watching five or more hours of TV programmes each day made people more than twice as likely to die than those watching less than 2.5 hours.

PE is caused by a blockage in blood vessels in the legs that usually works its way up to the lungs.

It's also linked to slow movement.

The people behind the study warn against long TV sessions watching back to back episodes of your favourite series.

Co-author Dr Toru Shirakawa, from Osaka University, said: "Nowadays, with online video streaming, the term 'binge-watching' to describe viewing multiple episodes of television programmes in one sitting has become popular.

"This popularity may reflect a rapidly growing habit."

The researchers recommend going for a walk and stretching every hour during TV time.

Or play Pokemon Go - that's a Newsbeat recommendation.

The study was conducted before mobile devices and streaming services became popular.

The researchers said that more needs to be done to work out whether those technologies pose an even greater danger.

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