Venous thromboembolism (VTE) is estimated to affect between 300,000 and 600,000 adults in the United States each year.

VTE can come in two different forms: deep vein thrombosis (DVT) and pulmonary embolism (PE).

DVT occurs when a blood clot forms in deep veins, most commonly in those of the legs. PE arises when a blood clot breaks away from the deep veins and moves to the lungs, where it can block the artery that supplies blood to the organs.

Yes, this sounds scary — and it is. Around 10–30 percent of adults in the U.S. die within 1 month of being diagnosed with DVT or PE.

So, how can something as simple as watching TV lead to such a deadly condition? Well, one of the major risk factors for VTE is reduced blood flow, which can be caused by sitting for long periods of time. And if binge-watching boxsets for hours on end doesn't fall into this category, I don't know what does.

Unfortunately, many of us are guilty of this behavior. In fact, a report conducted by Nielsen last year revealed that adults in the U.S. spend almost 6 hours per day watching TV.

In 2016, a study published in the journal Circulation associated too much time in front of the TV with a greater risk of PE in men from Japan.

For the new research, Yasuhiko Kubota — of the University of Minnesota School of Public Health in Minneapolis — and colleagues wanted to find out whether watching TV could pose the same risk for adults in the U.S.

"VTE incidence is higher in Western populations than in Asian populations," the researchers say, "and thus, there may be a great deal of relevance to a study of TV viewing and VTE in Western populations."