Every hour of TV you watch shortens your life by 22mins

Melbourne: Couch potatoes, watch out! Every hour that you spend in front of the 'idiot box' could be taking 22 minutes off your life, a new study has warned. Australian researchers have found that watching television could be shortening your life by 4.8 years. 

    Researchers have found that for every hour of television viewed by a person over the age of 25, their life expectancy is reduced by 22 minutes. The study was based on an average six hours viewing per day, compared to a person who watches no TV, News.com.au reported. 
    Using data from the National Bureau of Statistics and the Australian Diabetes, Obesity and Lifestyle Study, the researchers generated life-expectancy tables based on the viewing habits of average Australians. 
    "TV viewing time may be associated with a loss of life that is comparable to other major chronic disease risk factors such as physical inactivity, smoking and obesity," the study found. "These findings suggest that substantial loss of life may be associated with prolonged TV viewing time among adults," it said. The research claims that a sedentary lifestyle is as bad for health as smoking and obesity, because of the dangers posed by inactivity. PTI

TIME TO TURN OFF THE IDIOT BOX

‘Polluted Ganga is the biggest source of cancer’

T he holy Ganga is a poisonous river today. It's so full of killer pollutants that those living along its banks in Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and Bengal are more prone to cancer than anywhere else in the country, says a recent study. 

    Conducted by the National Cancer Registry Programme (NCRP) under the Indian Council of Medical Research, the national study throws up shocking findings. The river is thick with heavy metals and lethal chemicals that cause cancer, it says. "We know that the incidence of cancer was highest in the country in areas drained by the Ganga. We also know why. Now, we are going deeper into the problem. Hopefully, we'll be able to present a report to the Union health ministry in a month or two," NCRP head ANandkumar said. 
    The worst-hit stretches are east Uttar Pradesh, the flood plains of Bengal and Bihar. Cancer of the gall bladder, kidneys, food pipe, prostate, liver, kidneys, urinary bladder and skin are common in these parts. These cases are far more common and frequently found here than elsewhere in the country, the study says. 
    What's more frightening is the finding that gall bladder cancer cases along the river course are the second highest in the world and prostate cancer highest in the country. The survey throws up more scary findings: Of every 10,000 people surveyed, 450 men and 1,000 women were gall bladder cancer patients.