What are the physical consequences of using the television for excessive periods of time? Difficult to consider, yet there are several alarm bells. Let’s find out some of them.
Does watching television cause brain damage? One could be ironic and, strengthened by half a century of psychology and sociology studies, observe if there are no proven biological damages, certainly the mental ones are evident, self-evident. TV certainly hurts; to culture, curiosity, reading and books and, last but not least, to the critical spirit. However is it also bad for the body? A heated debate rages on this.
In fact, a group of scientists chose some samples to examine almost 100,000 women (89,278, to be exact), in a range between 25 and 42 years old, and followed their state of health for twenty years, from 1991 to 2011 The peculiar study was conducted in the United States.
The results quickly became impressive; in fact, 118 cases of early-onset colorectal cancer were detected; and, in its small way, TV has also played a role in favoring the onset of the carcinogenic disease. In fact, women who watched TV more than an hour a day had a 12% higher chance of developing the disease. Women who spent two hours or more a day had a 70 percent higher chance of getting colorectal cancer.
The curious element is that, as Yin Cao observed, the correlation occurs only when in front of the television; there are no links, for example, linked to the risk of contracting cancer from sitting too long in the office, in the park, or in a restaurant. In fact, the studio favored the television element, which however proved to be decisive.
A controversial link, because the TV-cancer link does not hold up
Yin Cao, a researcher at the University of Washington School of Medicine, however warned that it is necessary not to draw arbitrary conclusions. In fact, many newspapers and many Anglo-American broadcasters were spearheaded against the new enemy, the TV; terrorizing thousands of people about the risks of getting cancer.
The link with a sedentary lifestyle is evident, it has been observed by many experts; however there may also be other factors such as smoking, obesity, diet, pollution and so on. In fact, although the research cites precise hours and durations, there is no exact number of hours in which to sit and another number in which to do physical activity. In general, moving and staying active, if you want a long and healthy life, remains a priority.
In this context, in fact, the study was conducted on a population, such as the United States, where the scourge of obesity connected to fast food and the lack of a healthy culinary culture is rampant. All elements that contribute – some more, some less – to the development of colorectal cancer.