TV and PAD: What’s the Connection?

According to a new study in the Journal of the American Heart Association, there’s a clear link between TV and PAD risk. More specifically, the amount of time you spend watching television each day can increase your risk for atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease (ASCVD), including peripheral arterial disease (PAD), heart attack and stroke. But how much viewing is too much, and how can you protect your arterial health? Here’s what you need to know.

TV and PAD Risk: Timing is Key

If you want to stay in the safety zone for arterial health, don’t watch more than two hours of TV each day, according to this study. And, if you want to reduce your risk for all forms of ASCVD, you should limit daily viewing time to one hour or less. Why is that the case?

Lead study author Dr. Youngwon Kim explains, "Watching TV, which accounts for more than half of daily sedentary behavior, is consistently associated with an increased risk of Type 2 diabetes and atherosclerosis," Kim said. "Our study provides new insights into the roles of limiting TV viewing time in the prevention of atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease for everyone and especially in people with a high genetic predisposition for Type 2 diabetes."

How did he reach these conclusions? After reviewing genetic, lifestyle and medical record data from almost 350,000 patients, researchers discovered that watching TV for two or more hours per day increased participants’ ASCVD risk by 12%. This evidence clearly highlights the impact of remaining sedentary on your overall cardiovascular health. But leading a sedentary lifestyle is not the only risk factor associated with peripheral artery disease and other forms of ASCVD.

Lifestyle Factors and PAD Risk

While remaining sedentary clearly increases your PAD risk, this is not the only lifestyle factor that can impact your cardiovascular health. Diet and exercise play key roles in your health outcomes, and smoking dramatically increases your PAD risk along with your chances of developing other serious health complications.

Want to get proactive about your cardiovascular health? First, start cutting back on your daily TV time and PAD risk should drop. Then, you can review our Peripheral Artery Disease Risk Factors assessment. And, if your risk is elevated, contact our specialists to request a consultation at one of our six locations in the greater Houston and Dallas areas.