Smartphones affect your Eyes more than you Imagined

Most of us know that smartphones and other screens affect our eyes in an adverse way, but still we don't care. The basic reason behind this ignorance in lack of information and understanding. Eyes are the most used external organ in our body, yet most neglected as well. We care about our weight, obesity, blood pressure, biceps, hairs and lot of other things but eyes. In this age of smartphones, if we still continue this ignorance then both our generation and our kids will face issues related to vision.

Always remember that if you are staring a screen (such as TV or Smartphone) for more than 2 hours per day then you can easily develop some vision related issue sooner or later.

How smartphones affect our Eyes

Dry Eyes: On an average normal human eye blinks 15 to 20 times in a minute. But the blink rate is greatly reduced when we continuously focus on an object. Continuously staring at your smartphone for hours can affect your blink rate drastically. When we blink our eyes, a drop of tear wipes down our eye to clean its surface and keep it moist. Reduced blink rate causes dry eyes which is most common issue among smartphone users and can be treated easily by reducing smartphone usage.
Computer Vision Syndrome: This health issue is known since computer age, as it commonly occurred due to over usage of computers. But still this syndrome is affecting people due to over usage of smartphones. Symptoms of this disease are eye strain, dry eyes, headache, blurred vision, and neck and shoulder pain. Computer Vision Syndrome is also connected to some other facts listed below.
Blue Light : Blue light is often linked with eye problems because blue light regulates the release of melatonin. Release of melatonin tells our body that it is still daytime and thus usage of smartphones in night time disturbs our sleep, especially if you operate your smartphone just before sleeping. Apart from this side effect, blue light damages and kills the cells of retina, which is the worst side-effect of using smartphones.
Brightness: Brightness of screen is often set to maximum by most of the smartphone users, so that you can watch the screen clearly in daytime. More brightness also helps in viewing photos and videos clearly and thus preferred. But this more brightness put stress on our eyes.

Understand your Eye

Usually we ignore what our eyes try to say us in everyday life. We neglect the stress they go through due to over usage of smartphones and due to lack of relaxation. Minor symptoms like tiredness in eyes, minor headache, dryness in eyes, burning sensation and shoulder/neck pain should not be ignored as they can lead to some serious health issue with our eyes. Apart from consulting a doctor in case of such symptoms, you should also give some time to your eyes from your busy life. Our eyes don't demand a particular time slot, you can perform some simple yoga for eyes at any point of time in a day. These yoga exercises just take a few minutes and provide enough relaxation to your eyes for the remaining day.

Some tips for Smartphone users to keep their eyes healthy

• Keep your Smartphone at about an arm's distance while operating
• Use increased text size
• Take frequent breaks while using your smart phone for long duration.
• Don't use smartphone in a position where screen glare is caused due to some lighting in room.
• Try to use low brightness settings.
• Use smartphone in light, using it in a dark room can be harmful.

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Smartphones can cause ADHD in Teens

Smartphones are the latest addiction among teens which is not only obstructing their normal growth by taking them away from actual sports and physical activity but also making them medically sick. Most of the parents gift expensive smartphones to their kids as a reward or gift, and kids also demand it due to rising competition among their classmates. Kids are kids and they may demand anything they find attractive and addictive, but parents are adults and it is their responsibility to save their kids from any suspected diseases and don't let any thing become hurdle in their normal growth.

A latest research has concluded that those teenagers who own a smartphone and continuously use it are at risk of developing ADHD. 10% of teenagers using smartphones have reported lack of concentration while studying and problems with attention and focus.

ADHD in Teens

Attention-Deficit / Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) is a  neurodevelopmental mental disorder. Teenagers suffering from this disorder often report following symptoms.

• problems with patience
• behavior not according to age
• impulsivity or inattention
• may result in poor school performance

30–50% of kids diagnosed with ADHD continue to have symptoms into adulthood.

Why Smartphone are more dangerous for Teenagers ?
TV, music and video games also made kids addict but smartphones have taken it to totally new level. It is because of the fact that they are handy and much faster. Today smartphones games are more realistic than any other video game. The motion and gravity sensors in smartphone give it a feel as a body part while playing the game. A smartphone can keep you engaged whole day through games, chatting, social media (facebook, instagram, twitter), shopping websites and videos (youtube). These activities on smartphones steal the time and keep teens stick to a bed or chair for longer duration. They even start to stay alone, so that nobody disturbs them while using their smartphones.

Kids are influenced by parents
If parents are using smartphones too much then chances of their teenage kids using smartphones are much more. So if you want to keep you kids away from smartphones the you should make some rules and follow them yourself to inspire them. Telling you kids about adverse effects of overusage and benefits of giving the same time to some physical activity or creative work can help a lot. But it can only help if you do it before the glass is broken.
Example Tip: Never use your smartphone on dinner table, as it will make kids think that it is OK to do so.

Financial Condition also matters
Family income also matters in this case. Those kids who belong to financially good background are more prone to ADHD, as they get smartphones much easily compared to those whose financial condition is not as good.

Apart from ADHD, sleep deprivation from too much device time is another symptom that can impact the health of a teenager.

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Touch Screen deteriorating Handwriting skill of Kids

Some reports published in early 2018 claimed that touch screen usage by kids is making them unable to write with hand. Lack of finger skills necessary to hold a pencil properly is found responsible for that. Pediatricians claim that over usage of touchscreen phones and tablets by kids and lack of playing with toys, blocks, clay and colors is responsible for this effect. Researchers believe that if we don't understand the severity of these reports then it might have some very bad results in future.

How Touch Screen deteriorating Handwriting skill of Kids ?

Now a days parents find an unused smartphone as a good toy for their kids or ever toddlers. These devices turn out to be addictive for kids and they don't find any thing else interesting. Instead of doing some physical activity, playing with toys or holding colors to draw something on paper, they find smartphone more useful. Now kids play music on phone, scroll through pics, click pics and play games (most addictive) and don't want anybody to stop them from doing that. All these touch screen skills require just a touch by fingertip. It does not provide enough opportunity to muscles in fingers to develop the skill of very fine movements which is required in writing.

According to Sally Payne, a head pediatric therapist, 10 years ago kids have better strength in their hands and fingers to hold and write with a pencil.

Whom to blame ?
Parents ! Yes it is the fault of parents who find their unused smartphones or ipads, a better toy for their kids, instead of making them play with actual toys, taking them for a walk or playing with them. Parents have less time for such necessary activities as they spend that precious time in their own phones. To don't get disturbed they give a far more addictive toy in hands of their kids which puts their all-around-development at risk.

Some of the modern kids don't know how to hold pencil. When the pencil is given to them for the first time in school, they hold it totally wrong and can't control it as they should. Teach your kid to hold pencil yourself at home and it it goes wrong then try to correct them. Your timely intervention can help your child.

Evolution going backwards
Once i heard that technology is making human evolution go backwards. The skills that once developed in our body during evolution are now deteriorating. It is because we are no longer using those skills. One such skill is handwriting, if we don't teach our young generation the art of writing then a number of other arts like painting and sculpturing will be extinct soon.

Some talents are becoming rare in modern kids like making sketches, painting and calligraphy which require very fine control over your fingers. We need to spend some time on proper development of kids and keep in mind the importance of actual world, instead of the virtual world that we see in our smartphones.

Reference:
https://nypost.com/2018/03/01/smartphone-addicted-kids-cant-hold-pencils-anymore/
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-5435015/Touchscreen-happy-children-weak-hold-pencil.html
https://www.theguardian.com/society/2018/feb/25/children-struggle-to-hold-pencils-due-to-too-much-tech-doctors-say

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Smartphone Addiction : Test yourself and get a Solution

Smartphone addiction is a real problem that affect our health and most of us underestimate it. There was a time when only smoking and drinking were considered as addiction. As technology progressed a new type of addiction spread its legs into the human society. That addiction was addiction of electronic equipment. Kids get addicted to electronic games, adults to their smartphone.
Mobile phones were a handy way of communication but as they evolved into smartphones, they became much ore than a mode of communication. It became a camera, a radio, a gaming device, a video player and a social networking device with access to complete internet. It made things a lot easier and handy. Smartphones became one of the best friends of some people, even those who feel shy of talking. But the problem is not with the friendship with phone, the problem is with the over usage.
Most of the smartphone addicts will never confess it that they are addicted to it as they really don't know it. They believe that whatever they are doing with their smartphone is necessary for them to do.

How does Smartphone addiction affect your health ?

• Smartphone addiction decreases your concentration level on other tasks. Most common of such tasks are studying. It results in bad grades in schools and more accidents on roads.
• Most of the accidents on roads happen due to usage of phone while driving. It is not only risky for you but also for others on road.
• Smartphone addict people spend more time watching their phone screen, which damages their sight and they require glasses at an early age.
• Smartphone addict people interact less with other people in real life. Your health is not just your body but also your social life (Social life and social networking are totally different).
• Smartphone addicts watch lesser News / Current Events / Science TV Channels and hence have lesser general knowledge.
• Smartphones also disturb the night life of couples. Even if any one of them is addict then they get lesser time to get intimate, which is a major necessity of good married life.
• Smartphone addicts give less importance to other necessary tasks such as a kid's school function, doing worship, having dinner together and many more. It disconnects them not only from society but also from their own family. 

Smartphone Addiction Test

The answer to following question will help you in understanding if you are an addict or not. If your answer is yes to any of these questions then you are going towards addiction.

• Do you check your phone for messages/chats/facebook every night before sleeping ?
• Do you send jokes to your friends on smartphone even when they are sitting with you in the same room ?
• Do you start feeling uncomfortable if you smartphone battery gets exhausted ?
• Do you check your phone every hour while you are awake ?
• Do you check you phone even while getting intimate with your partner ?
• Do you take calls while having a shower ?
• Do you check your phone on a dinner date ?
• Do you check your phone in a movie theater ?

If your answer is "Yes" to most of these questions then you are an addict.

Draw a line between healthy usage and addiction

However it is hard to draw a line for an addict but you must do it if you feel that you are going towards addiction. Here are some ways to draw a line.

• Don't use your phone after a certain time in night. You may decide an appropriate time yourself, so that you can get a proper good night sleep.
• Attend the calls only when it is appropriate to take calls. Not taking a call or not checking your phone in bathroom, during a school program of your kid, while driving ,or in a movie theater won't make much difference but it will save you from addiction, accidents and embarrassment.
• try to avoid using your smartphone when you are in company of your family, friends or relatives. Real life family and friends are more important rather than thousands of friends on facebook.
• Don't check your phone after every few minutes for some notifications. It won't hurt if you don't check some notification for a while. It is better to mute your notifications tone and just keep ON the ringtone to attend calls.

A number of institutions like schools in US are using Yondr, a small gray pouch that swallow phones and lock them until you get them unlocked before leaving that institution. It not only helps you in concentrating on your work or study, but also saves you from being an addict. Such practices should be followed all over the world.

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Do Headphones save you from Cell Phone Radiation ?

Some people say that headphones can protect you from radiation. Some people believe that wired headphones will bring more concentrated radiation directly into your ears. Some say that wired headphones are better than Bluetooth headphones, as bluetooth works on radio frequency. So which type of headphones are better ? Answers to all of these questions are available in this article.

If you are struggling to find that which type of radiations are emitted by cell phones and if they are harmful for human body then you must read our previous article : Cell phone Radiation.

The answer to all the questions rising in your mind depends on how you are using the headphones.

Do Headphones save you from Cell Phone Radiation ?
Yes Headphones can save your head from the radiation by keeping your cell phone away from your head. Some people say that radiation can travel through wires, but what they miss is that cell phone only transmits the sound frequency in headphone wires. Main radiation occurs at your phone as it communicates with the communication tower which is situated miles away. The frequency needed by your phone to transmit the sound to very small speakers in your headphone located just a few feet away is negligible. The electromagnetic radiation of your headphone is comparatively very less and can't be a health issue unless you use it at high volume for longer duration.

But Headphones can't save your body from Cell Phone Radiation !
Yes, as we said in the last paragraph that headphones only saves your head. Headphones are not responsible for rest of the body. If you have put Cell Phone in your shirt pocket or trouser's pocket, then it harms more. Our head have a strong skull, which is a tough bone, that can save us from some radiation but our lower abdominal organs are not protected by any bone cage. Thus our kidneys, liver and reproductive organs become prone to radiation.

According to some researches cell phones transmit radio frequency which is a non-ionizing radiation that is comparatively very less harmful than ionizing radiation. Non-ionizing radiation can only heat the body. But constant heat on any organ for longer duration may put some harm. Some researchers believe that putting cell phones in front pockets of trousers may harm sperm quality of men, as it needs very specific temperature.

Bluetooth Headphones vs Wired Headphone
Some people use bluetooth headphones to get rid from hassle of wires. Some people say that bluetooth radiation directly affects the brain. But as per our research on internet, its not so. Compared to radio frequency of cell phone tower and cell phones (which can communicate from distance of miles) the strength of radio signals (bluetooth) between cell phone and bluetooth headphone is very weak, as it needs wireless communication within a range of few feet only. If non-ionizing radiation created by communication between cell phone tower and cell phone can't affect your health apart from just heating the skin, then how can the weak bluetooth communication affect your health. However the researches are still on to know the effect of non-ionizing radiation on health, but the weak bluetooth headphone radiation is very weak to affect human body. So if you are ready to spend few extra bucks to get rid of hassle of wires, then don't stop due to fear of radio frequency radiation.

Note: Its a suggestion of betterhealthfacts.com to keep your phone away from your body while talking. Its better to be on safer side. Using headphones can help you in this process. Try to keep your phone on a table instead of your pocket, or in a carry bag while travelling.

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Cell Phone Radiation: Non-ionizing Radiation, SAR Level

Past two decades were the decades of cell phones. During these years the technology revolution in cell phones made every person on planet have access to cell phones. Smart phones with touch screen are the latest one of them. Now a discussion is happening all over the world about radiation produced by these cell phones and if it is harmful for our body. Non-Ionizing Radiation and SAR level are the most discussed issues among some health conscious groups. Here Betterhealthfacts.com will try to find if these radiation are harmful or not.

Every electrical or electronic equipment is capable of making some electromagnetic radiation. The level of this radiation vary from device to device. The energy stored in a radiation is measured by its frequency. If the frequency is high then its called Ionizing Radiation and if the frequency is low then its called Non-Ionizing radiation. Ionizing Radiations are harmful, such as X-rays. Over exposure to ionizing radiation can cause cancer. Cell phones don't emit Ionizing radiation, but they emit Non-Ionizing radiation.

Non Ionizing Radiation by Cell Phones

Cell phones work on radio frequency, which comes under non-ionizing radiation. It ranges from 30 kilohertz to 300 gigahertz. This radio frequency can generate heat and heat-up any nearby object. Its example is microwave oven, where microwaves (300Mhz to 300Ghz) are used to heat food items in kitchen. But Microwave oven consume very high electricity to produce that heat. Sometimes our cell phones also heat up when we talk for longer duration, which is an effect of radio waves. It can easily heat up our ear as well. Researches are still on to find if these radio frequency waves can affect health of a person. Some researches have revealed that over exposure to this non-ionizing radiation can damage skin tissues by heating and photo-chemical reactions.The damage by this radiation to the human body depends on duration of exposure and frequency of radio waves. Some radio waves can penetrate deep into tissues and heat them up. If this heating is near brain (as we keep cellphones on our ear while talking), then it may do some harm to our health.

SAR Level

SAR is Specific Absorption Rate which is expressed in watts per kilogram (W/kg) taken over the volume containing a mass of 1 gram. It is a unit to tell how much radiation produced by a device will be absorbed by our body. In US SAR level of a device should be kept below 1.6 . You may check your cell phone's SAR level by dialing *#07# .  Usually most of the devices show Head SAR and Body SAR . Head SAR is the absorption rate by human head and Body SAR is absorption rate by Human Body.
Note: The head and brain of children can absorb more radiation from a cell phone, which is not mentioned in any phone manual. So try to keep kids away from your cell phone.

However cell phone manufacturers claim that their phones are safe but still we should take some safety precautions our self by reducing the cell phone usage. Men invented technology to use it as a slave, but now that technology has made us slave of its own. We can't think of a day without internet and cell phone. We should give ourselves a break sometimes and spend sometime with our family and friends, putting our cell phones away from us. Even if cell phone don't cause any disease, its better to live one day in a month without it. Try it ! Its a detox and better than living in a detox camp to get rid of internet addiction.

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Smartphone Blindness: Using Phone during night ?

If you are one of those who use their smartphone during night after turning off the lights, then here is something you must read. A new disease of modern world is discovered recently "Smartphone Blindness", where the patient uses smartphone during night after turning off the lights of the room and when he/she wakes up in the morning the eyesight was gone. However mostly it happened as a temporary problem, but nobody would like to experience it. Being blinded without a blindfold is something very scary. If you want to save yourself from this condition then you must read this article.

How eyes adapt between darkness and light

Before we tell you more about this recently discovered Smartphone Blindness, you must have some basic knowledge about how our eye helps us in watching things during day and night time. There are two types of cells in our eye. One is Rod Cells and second are Cone Cells. Cone Cells are responsible for viewing colors and bright things (thats day time vision), while Rod Cells can view better in dark (thats night time). If you are in a completely dark room from sometime and someone turns on the lights suddenly then it takes our eye 5 to 7 minutes to adjust to it, as cone cell in the eye activate themselves for it. But when the opposite thing happens and we go from a well illuminated room to a dark one then it takes 30 to 40 minutes for our eyes to completely adjust and activate Rod cells.

Smartphone Blindness

What we see is a joint output of our eyes and brain. Sometimes our brain works in a strange way, where the researches were not done yet. One such thing is Smartphone Blindness. Using your Smartphone in a dark room for longer duration is perfect condition for this medical condition to happen. Two such cases were reported in "New England Journal of Medicine". Two ladies of age 22 and 40 reported that they suffered from temporary blindness. Doctors tried to find the reason behind that. But to the surprise of doctors the reason was surprising. Both ladies used to work on their phone till late night after turning off the room lights and sometimes their one eye use to remain close due to pillow. Both of them used just one eye to operate their smartphone in a dark room. After finding these facts, scientists tried to find the reason.

The result they found is something new. When we use a smartphone with one eye closed (either by pillow or some other hindrance), then our one eye get adapted to brightness while the other adapt to darkness. Sometimes this thing can mess something in our brain and we can loose our sight for sometime either during night or for few minutes after waking up.

If you want to save yourself from this Smartphone Blindness, then never ever use your phone in a dark room with one eye. Using your phone till late night is itself something unhealthy. It not only disturbs your sleep but also disturbs your biological clock. Now a days mobile phone manufactures are increasing brightness of screens, so that you can use it during a sunny day, but its making extra stress on our eyes. Especially if you don't know how to set the brightness level to low, you are harming your eyes. Even some people who know about the brightness level, don't set it to low as they want to see everything crisp and clear. What such people don't know is that brightness can permanently damage their eyes.

Please use your smartphone with less brightness and use it less during night. Even if you have to use it during night, use both eyes to look at screen, not just one.

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Smartphone and Health Issues - Healthy ways to use Smartphone

Smartphone and Health Issues

Smartphones are now a part of our lives. We can't even imagine spending a day with our smartphone. Smartphones have glued into our lives so quickly that we can't even image. A few years ago no one even have any idea of an android phone and how it will make you addicted to it. Previously mobile phones were used only for telephonic conversation, but now smartphones are much more than that. They act as music player, gaming consoles, video players, digital camera and also connects you to social networks like Facebook, twitter with complete internet connectivity.

How Smartphone Affects your Health

Here are few things that might have noticed in your daily life. You should avoid these things to keep your body healthy and live a peaceful life

Smartphones decreases the Fitness Level

In majority of cases smartphones lead to an unfit lifestyle. Playing games, checking your facebook, twitter, whatsapp, watching movies, or surfing the Internet on your smartphone leads to a sedentary lifestyle. By doing these things you keep yourself away from physical activities, which results in lower fitness level. So avoid those activities on your smartphone which are avoidable.

Don't check your office mails late night

Do you know that late-night emails kill productivity (I am talking about work productivity). Usually our phones emit blue light which reduces the production of melatonin. Melatonin makes our body sleep during night. But lower level of melatonin affects our sleep, which results in lower energy level next day. So don't stick to your phone after 9PM. Lack of sleep can initiate various diseases.

 Interruption by phone in your night life with parter might lead to problems

Its a common problem for most of the couples. If your phone is interrupting your night life then it might lead to tension with your partner. Your partner might not point it directly but it will create tension between you. So its better to avoid smartphone at night and give time to your partner.

Ringxiety

Did you ever feel that your phone is ringing while it isn't. This is called "Ringxiety" or " Phantom Vibrations" . Its actually a syndrome. It occurs due to over usage of phone. So try to talk less on phone. Use it only when its necessary.

Losing your phone leads to improper behavior

Sometimes people loose their temper if their phone is lost. Sometimes they misplace it themselves and think that its lost. It leads to a very strange behavior sometimes. When it occurs people take it as a heavy monetary loss (certainly smartphones cost a lot) and loss of personal data as well. That personal data may be pics or some naughty text from you friends or girlfriend. In most of the lost smartphone cases people are more concerned about the lost data. So avoid keeping any type of sensitive data on your phone.

Texting could land you in the Hospital.

Some people text while driving or walking. During past few years that number of accidental cases due to typing on phone while walking or driving has suddenly increased. Whatever the matter is, please avoid texting during such situations. If its an emergency then stop and then text it.

Phone Camera reduces your photographic memory

People rely on their phone camera so much that they don't even look at the things properly. They get indulged in taking a pic of it. When we do it our brain thinks that "its stored in camera, why should i take the pain". It reduces our photographic memory as become dependent on phone camera and don't look deep into the objects. Most of the times we don't even look properly into the images captured by our phone camera. Usually we get busy in sharing those pics on some social network to tell our friends that we visited that place. So please avoid using camera and use your eyes to look into the beauty of nature.

Healthy ways to use Smartphone

• Don't use your phone at night
• Don't text while walking or Driving
• Don't keep sensitive data on phone memory
• Don't play too much games on phone
• Don't shoot pics everywhere
• Don't take it as replacement of a desktop

Note: Try to use your smartphone as a communication devive. You control it, don't let it control you. The smart feature should be used when you need it. These smart features can make you addicted, so avoid using them everytime.

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