Do you still dare to watch TV?

"Watching too much TV will make you stupid!" This is a warning that parents often "threat" their children.

It seems that this statement has a scientific basis.

With the development of medical technology and the improvement of living standards, human life expectancy is increasing.

At the beginning of the 20th century, the global average life expectancy was 61 years, but now it has been extended to 70 years.

However, the ensuing chronic diseases, the high incidence of cancer, and dementia that turn family members into "the most familiar strangers" have become age-related health threats.

According to the latest data, the prevalence of Alzheimer's disease in China has increased significantly with the increase in life expectancy.
The current number of patients has exceeded 10 million, of which 60% are Alzheimer's disease: the incidence rate of people over 65 is 5%; 80 years old The above incidence rate exceeds 30%.

Therefore, understanding and changing risk factors as early as possible at a young age is essential to prevent or delay dementia.

Although many studies have proven the health benefits of exercise on the brain, scientists still know very little about the potential effects of long-term TV watching on brain structure and cognitive function.

On May 21, Beijing time, three studies published at the 2021 Epidemiology, Prevention, Life>
Researchers found that during early adulthood and middle age, the longer you watch TV every day, the faster the brain ages, and the greater the risk of cognitive decline in later life.

Not only that, spending more time watching TV in middle age is also related to the decrease in brain gray matter volume.

However, the same is "seeing", but reading (reading books, reading newspapers) does not have such negative effects.

Cognitive functions include a person's ability to remember, think, reason, communicate, and solve problems.

Gray matter is an important part of the central nervous system.

It helps coordinate muscle control, vision, hearing, decision-making and other important brain functions.

The larger the gray matter volume of a person's brain, the better their cognitive abilities are usually.

Research 1 from the team of Dr.
Ryan Dougherty from the Department of Epidemiology, Bloomberg School of Public Health, Johns Hopkins University, found that long-term TV watching in middle age is related to gray matter volume.

In this study, they investigated data from the Coronary Artery Risk Development Study (CARDIA) in Young People.

This longitudinal study involved 599 participants with an average age of 30 (306 women).
The researchers followed up every five years.
During the follow-up, participants were asked about the average length of time they watched TV each day in the past year.

After 20 years, the participants underwent an MRI brain scan.

Researchers found that: the greater number of TV watching from early adulthood to middle age is related to the decrease in gray matter volume; for every additional hour of watching TV, the gray matter volume will decrease by about 0.
5%, which is similar to the brain atrophy rate in middle and late life; exercise; Habits did not affect the association between the frequency of watching TV in middle-aged people and the structural markers of brain gray matter.

Dougherty said: "For cognitive and brain health, not all sedentary behaviors are the same.

Non-stimulating sedentary activities such as watching TV increase the risk of cognitive impairment, and sedentary activities that stimulate cognition, For example, reading, playing computer and tabletop games can maintain cognitive ability and reduce the possibility of dementia.

” Therefore, the researchers emphasized that when studying cognition and brain health, it is important to consider the background differences of different sedentary behaviors.
Important.

Dougherty said: "Our research found that after taking physical activity into account, watching TV is still related to cognitive function and gray matter volume reduction, which suggests that this sedentary behavior may pose special risks to brain and cognitive health.

This is an important discovery because it is now widely believed that the neurobiology of dementia, including brain atrophy, begins in middle age.

During this period, we can reduce the changeable behaviors such as excessive TV watching to promote healthy aging of the brain.

"Study 2 A research team led by Priya Palta, a neuroscientist at Columbia University Irvine Medical Center, investigated data on a community neurocognitive study involving 10,700 participants (44% males) with an average age of 59.
The authors reported on the frequency of watching TV in their leisure time, including never or rarely watching TV (low frequency), sometimes watching TV (medium frequency), or watching TV often (high frequency).
The
researchers conducted this over a 24 year period.
After 5 follow-up visits and follow-up cognitive tests, the focus was on working memory, language, executive ability, and processing speed.
The
researchers found that, compared with those who watched low-frequency, the participants who watched medium-to-high-frequency were 15 Cognitive abilities dropped by 6.
9% in the middle of the year; high-frequency TV watching was clearly associated with the risk of dementia; physical activity levels and exercise habits did not seem to change the relationship between watching TV and changes in cognitive function and the risk of dementia .

Palta said: "sedentary behavior a long time watching television, may decline and cognitive health and brain imaging markers related.

Therefore, reducing the sedentary behavior of watching TV may be an important factor in improving the life>
There are currently no drugs to treat or stop dementia.

However, a report recently published in The Lancet showed that by changing 12 risk factors including exercise, nearly 40% of dementia diagnoses worldwide can be prevented or delayed.

"(Related reading: 9 risk factors for dementia, China accounts for 40%! "The Lancet" releases the latest prevention report) Study 3 comes from the research team of Professor Kelley Pettee Gabriel, Epidemiology, School of Public Health, University of Alabama at Birmingham Observed 1601 participants (60.
5% were women) with an average age of 76.
2 years in the same data set.
They reported how often they watched TV during the two follow-up visits.
The
researchers conducted a survey on the participants at the fifth follow-up visit .
The MRI scan examined several structural brain markers, including gray matter volume.

The conclusions of this study are consistent with those of study two.

It shows that continuous TV watching throughout middle age is more associated with a decrease in brain gray matter volume.

This means that the brain shrinks or degenerates to a higher degree.

In short, the more you watch TV in middle age, the smaller your brain's gray matter volume after middle age, Gabriel said: "Other studies have shown that physical activity and sedentary behavior may have different effects on health and disease.

In middle age, , That is, engaging in healthy behaviors between the ages of 45 and 64 in our study may be an important factor in supporting a healthy brain in later life.

"Researchers emphasize that all three studies have limitations because the data depends on the participants’ Self-report.

In addition, watching TV is only one type of sedentary behavior, and participants failed to provide a complete report on the total length of sedentary.

American Heart Association President Mitchell Elkind said: "But in the context of the current COVID-19 pandemic, this study is very timely and important because we know that people spend more time sitting and watching TV during isolation.

These studies are There is an interesting connection between watching TV, cognitive decline and changes in brain structure.

Watching TV is just a type of sedentary behavior, but I am very easy to change this habit, and it may have a big impact on maintaining and improving brain health.
influences".

Reference: https://newsroom.
heart.
org/news/moderate-to-high-tv-viewing-in-midlife-linked-to-later-cognitive-and-brain-health-decline?preview=188e related reading : A large-scale study of more than 100,000 people: People who love "chasing drama" are at higher risk of depression.
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