Translation. Region: Russian Federal
Source: Novosibirsk State University – Novosibirsk State University –
The webinar “The Impact of Mobile Devices on Human Well-Being” was conducted by neurologist, manual therapist of the Medical Scientific and Educational Center of the Institute of Medicine and Medical Technologies of the Novosibirsk State University Alexey Tamchuk. He spoke about the consequences of improper use of smartphones and the mechanisms of influence of mobile gadgets on human health, and also explained how you can independently minimize their harmful effects on the body, and in which cases you cannot do without the help of specialists.
— Mobile phone use is a mass phenomenon. By 2024, there were about 4.88 billion mobile phone users in the world, which is 60.42% of all the planet’s inhabitants, including infants and the elderly. Accordingly, all the effects of mobile devices are of a mass nature. A person with a smartphone in his hands, scrolling through the news feed in every free minute, is a common phenomenon. But spending a long time in this position is, at the very least, unphysiological. Researchers do not consider the mobile phone itself as a direct cause of diseases, but it may well be a risk factor, adding its contribution to the “piggy bank” of negative effects on the body, which in total lead to various unpleasant consequences, — explained Alexey Tamchuk.
The first to suffer are vision, the musculoskeletal system, the nervous system and the psyche. The strain on the eyes is the most obvious. With excessive use of the phone, especially if you bring it too close to the eyes or too far from them, there is a strain on the visual apparatus, which causes a spasm of the ciliary muscles, which change the curvature of the lens. As a result, accommodation and convergence are disrupted. To be more precise, accommodation is the ability of the eye to focus on objects located at different distances, which ensures clear vision. This process allows light to refract correctly and form an image on the retina. And convergence is the reduction of the pupils to the bridge of the nose when examining an object close up or while reading. This function, like accommodation, is part of binocular vision. In both cases, when we finally look away from the smartphone, looking into the distance, we see a blurry picture.
It has been noted that when using a mobile phone, a person blinks twice less often than in everyday life. For this reason, the cornea of the eye dries out and there is a feeling as if there is sand in the eyes. This leads to reddening of the sclera and painful sensations.
The listed vision changes are reversible, they can disappear if you give your eyes a rest or choose glasses. If this rest is insufficient, such “fatigue” can precede the development of more serious conditions. For example, myopia (nearsightedness, when a person sees poorly in the distance, but sees well up close) or macular degeneration (a group of diseases in which the retina is affected and central vision is impaired). The latter can occur due to the accumulation of lipofuscin when blue light affects the retina, which leads to dystrophy of the middle part of the retina and accelerated aging of the visual organ as a whole. In this case, the perception of light and color is impaired, and visual acuity is significantly reduced. Rest and wearing glasses will not help here.
– The blue spectrum of light from the screen of the smartphone can be harmful not only because it leads to eye fatigue. Potential damage to the retina is also associated with it. The main source of blue light is the sun for us, but in nature we never look at the light source, and therefore we do not perceive it to the central department of the retina. At the same time, it is very important, since it regulates circus rhythms, that is, 24-hour cycles that control various biological processes in the body, including sleep, wakefulness, production of hormones, metabolism and other functions. When the blue light falls on the retina, the body is produced in the body, among which is serotonin. This happens in all animals, which, like a person, have a daily type of activity. At night, in the absence of daytime (and, therefore blue) light, a melatonin is produced, which is unofficially called the “hormone of sleep” due to its ability to immerse the body into an altered state of consciousness, providing a full rest. When you spend the clock in the dark or at night in the dark, peering into the smartphone monitor, the consumption of blue light becomes excessive and melatonin is not produced. As a result, sleep architecture is violated – the phases of sleep become shorter, more night awakenings are happening, which the person himself does not remember the next morning, although it later turns out that he not only woke up, but responded to reports on social networks. Such a dream is unproductive, since a number of important physiological processes do not occur. There is no restoration of the nervous and endocrine systems, a body weight set, hypertension develops, intraocular pressure does not decrease, which can be very harmful to people predisposed to hypertension, ”explained Alexei Tamchuk.
Smartphone addiction can lead not only to vision impairment. With prolonged forced position of the hands, the function of the median and ulnar nerves can be impaired. Numbness and pain in the fingers and then the wrists appear. Subsequently, motor symptoms, including weakness, can join the sensory symptoms. Long stay in the same non-physiological position leads to tension of the muscles of the cervical-collar region, which causes discomfort, can be combined with headaches, gradually this condition can be joined by symptoms of narrowing of the intervertebral canal – pain in the neck, lower back, arms and legs, numbness of the shins and feet, weakness and fatigue in the legs, burning, tingling and pressure in the legs, impaired sensitivity in the limbs, problems with balance. Excessive use of the smartphone also causes an increase in the level of situational anxiety, apathy and irritability. Quite often, a condition called phubbing occurs – when a person is distracted by their gadget during a live conversation, paying primary attention to it, while trying to maintain a conversation. At the same time, the person constantly checks the phone, texts, scrolls through social networks or views content, ignoring the presence and words of the interlocutor. In parallel with this, there is a decrease in academic performance, emotional-volitional disorders and a deterioration in general well-being.
Alexey Tamchuk told how to build the right relationship with a smartphone using a cognitive-behavioral approach. It is necessary to set a screen time counter. Time flies when you are browsing news feeds and communicating on social networks, so it is best to control it. It would also be useful to set up a “reading”, “book reading” or “eye protection mode” mode on your smartphone, where there is less blue light spectrum and warmer shades. The gadget should be held at a distance of 30-40 cm from the eyes, using comfortable stands if necessary.
— It is essential to split up your phone’s screen time — take 20-20-20 breaks: after every 20 minutes of focusing your gaze on the smartphone screen, look away for 20 seconds, at a distant object, and look into the distance. It is also recommended to blink more often while spending time with a smartphone, but it is quite difficult to develop such a habit by consciously ordering yourself to blink, — advised the webinar host.
To prevent insomnia, Alexey Tamchuk advised not to use a smartphone 2 hours before bedtime and generally put it away at night. You shouldn’t fall asleep with a gadget by your pillow, so as not to be tempted, while falling asleep, to check messages for the very last time or scroll through the news feed a little. Can’t fall asleep? Read a book. And better yet – not a detective story, but a serious one. As a rule, healthy sleep comes quickly from smart books.
Unfortunately, smartphone addiction is not a myth, but a reality, so the user cannot always cope with this problem. In some cases, the help of specialists is required. For example, with persistent disorders in the emotional sphere, the patient may need the help of a psychotherapist or even a psychiatrist. And if sensitivity disorders, pain in the musculoskeletal system, headaches, dizziness, memory impairment, or other incomprehensible symptoms occur, you should visit a neurologist to clarify the causes. Regular systematic examinations by an ophthalmologist should also be carried out. Alexey Tamchuk noted that the Medical Scientific and Educational Center of NSU has everything to solve such problems.
Please note: This information is raw content directly from the source of the information. It is exactly what the source states and does not reflect the position of MIL-OSI or its clients.