Why Laptops Should Be Renamed To Protect Consumers

Recent research published in the journal Archives of Environmental and Occupational Health concluded that the “Laptop is paradoxically an improper site for the use of a LTC [laptop computer], which consequently should be renamed to not induce customers towards an improper use.” [emphasis added]

What lead these reseachers to reach such a seemingly drastic conclusion?

In the study referenced above and titled “Exposure to electromagnetic fields from laptop use of “laptop” computers,” researchers found that electromagnetic fields (EMFs) produced by laptop computers likely induce currents within the adult body, and the bodies of developing fetuses exposed by proxy, to unsafe levels.  They found that in the laptop computers analyzed EMF values were “considerably higher than the values recommended by 2 recent guidelines for computer monitors magnetic field emissions…”

Furthermore:

When close to the body, the laptop induces currents that are within 34.2% to 49.8% ICNIRP recommendations, but not negligible, to the adult’s body and to the fetus (in pregnant women). On the contrary, the power supply induces strong intracorporal electric current densities in the fetus and in the adult subject, which are respectively 182-263% and 71-483% higher than ICNIRP 98 basic restriction recommended to prevent adverse health effects.

— Archives of Environmental and Occupational Health, 2012 Jan; 67(1): 31-6

The fact that laptop computers may have adverse health effects was confirmed late last year (Nov. 2011) in the journal Fertility and Sterility, which we reported on in this article.  In summary, researchers discovered that laptops connected to the internet through Wi-Fi decrease human sperm motility and increase sperm DNA fragmentation. This was the first human clinical study of its kind to establish that laptop-associated radiation can cause substantial harm to male fertility.

Laptop computers are far more convenient than desktops and difficult to avoid, especially if your livelihood is in any way connected to computer work and the internet. An effort should be made to use them cautiously and to avoid putting them directly on your lap. When circumstances make such exposures unavoidable it is possible that natural substances like turmeric, and propolis, along with other radioprotective substances, can reduce the adverse effects associated with exposure to harmful electromagnetic fields.

© June 5, 2017 GreenMedInfo LLC. This work is reproduced and distributed with the permission of GreenMedInfo LLC. Want to learn more from GreenMedInfo? Sign up for the newsletter here http://www.greenmedinfo.com/greenmed/newsletter.

Why Laptops Should Be Renamed To Protect Consumers

Recent research published in the journal Archives of Environmental and Occupational Health concluded that the “Laptop is paradoxically an improper site for the use of a LTC [laptop computer], which consequently should be renamed to not induce customers towards an improper use.” [emphasis added]

What lead these reseachers to reach such a seemingly drastic conclusion?

In the study referenced above and titled “Exposure to electromagnetic fields from laptop use of “laptop” computers,” researchers found that electromagnetic fields (EMFs) produced by laptop computers likely induce currents within the adult body, and the bodies of developing fetuses exposed by proxy, to unsafe levels.  They found that in the laptop computers analyzed EMF values were “considerably higher than the values recommended by 2 recent guidelines for computer monitors magnetic field emissions…”

Furthermore:

When close to the body, the laptop induces currents that are within 34.2% to 49.8% ICNIRP recommendations, but not negligible, to the adult’s body and to the fetus (in pregnant women). On the contrary, the power supply induces strong intracorporal electric current densities in the fetus and in the adult subject, which are respectively 182-263% and 71-483% higher than ICNIRP 98 basic restriction recommended to prevent adverse health effects.

— Archives of Environmental and Occupational Health, 2012 Jan; 67(1): 31-6

The fact that laptop computers may have adverse health effects was confirmed late last year (Nov. 2011) in the journal Fertility and Sterility, which we reported on in this article.  In summary, researchers discovered that laptops connected to the internet through Wi-Fi decrease human sperm motility and increase sperm DNA fragmentation. This was the first human clinical study of its kind to establish that laptop-associated radiation can cause substantial harm to male fertility.

Laptop computers are far more convenient than desktops and difficult to avoid, especially if your livelihood is in any way connected to computer work and the internet. An effort should be made to use them cautiously and to avoid putting them directly on your lap. When circumstances make such exposures unavoidable it is possible that natural substances like turmeric, and propolis, along with other radioprotective substances, can reduce the adverse effects associated with exposure to harmful electromagnetic fields.

© June 5, 2017 GreenMedInfo LLC. This work is reproduced and distributed with the permission of GreenMedInfo LLC. Want to learn more from GreenMedInfo? Sign up for the newsletter here http://www.greenmedinfo.com/greenmed/newsletter.

“Text Neck” is Giving Young People Major Spine Issues

No matter where you go, you probably see people leaning over looking at their cellphones. Chances are, you’ve seen it in your own house. Hey, you might even do it yourself. (It’s OK, I won’t judge you – I do it, too.) Well, a study in The Spine Journal shows that young people who shouldn’t have back and neck problems are already reporting disc hernias and alignment complications due to prolonged smartphone use. [1]

X-rays reveal how young people’s spines are changing because of chronic smartphone use, researcher Todd Lanman, a spinal neurosurgeon at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles, says. [2]

“In an X-ray, the neck typically curves backward, and what we’re seeing is that the curve is being reversed as people look down at their phones for hours each day.

By the time patients get to me, they’re already in bad pain and have disc issues. The real concern is that we don’t know what this means down the road for kids today who use phones all day.”

Lanman and study co-author Dr. Jason Cuellar, an orthopedic spine surgeon at Cedars-Sinai, say that people tend to look down at their phones more while texting than they do when they’re browsing the Internet or watching a video. Many young people rely on texting as their sole means of communication, which means they crane their necks often for several hours a day.

In earlier studies, researchers found that people hold their necks at about 45 degrees, and the curve gets worse as they sit, versus standing.

The weight of your head changes, depending on what position you’re in – something you might have noticed but never actually connected with your neck and back problems. When you’re looking forward in a neutral position, your head weighs about 10-12 pounds. However, at a 15-degree flex, it feels like 27 pounds. The stress on the spine increases by degree, and at 60 degrees, it’s 60 pounds. That’s one heavy noggin.

Source: Today.com

Lanman says:

“For today’s users, will an 8-year-old need surgery at age 28? In kids who have spines that are still growing and not developed, we’re not sure what to expect or if this could change normal anatomies.”

These Problems are Easily Avoided

Fortunately, you can avoid developing such problems by simply “training” yourself to hold your phone in front of your face or near eye level while texting. You may also find that you’re more comfortable if you use 2 hands and both thumbs to make your spine more symmetrical. [1]

Poor posture and spine problems also affect people who regularly use computers and tablets. If that’s you (it’s certainly me), the researchers recommend using an elevated monitor stand so your computer or tablet sits at a natural horizontal eye level. [2]

If you’re a laptop user, you can alleviate the problem by using a separate keyboard and mouse so that the laptop can be at eye level and you can sit in an ergonomically-correct position.

Gwanseob Shin of the Ulsan National Institute of Science and Technology Ergonomics Lab in South Korea, who wasn’t involved with the study, says:

“It is difficult to recommend a proper posture for smartphone users. If we raise the phone at eye level to avoid the look-down posture, it will add new concerns for the shoulder due to the elevated arm posture.”

Source: Daily Mail

Instead, Shin says, smartphone users should take “frequent rest breaks or some physical exercise that can strengthen the neck and shoulder muscles.”

Some of the stretches and exercises Lanman recommends involve lying on your bed and hanging your head over the edge while extending your neck backward, thus restoring the normal arc in your neck.

He also recommends aligning the neck and spine by making sure that your ears are over your shoulders, and your shoulders are over your hips.

Shin says:

“Ask your friend to take a photo of your upper body when you’re texting, then use the picture as the background image on your phone. That will remind you to take breaks frequently. Even a short break of a few seconds – called a micro-break – can help our tissues recover.”

Sources:

[1] University Herald

[2] Reuters

Today.com

Daily Mail

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