In my opinion I think the sedentary time during screen time is the culprit, not screen time itself. You mention as much when you suggest 2-5 minutes of physical activity for every 20 minutes. The cute title in my opinion doesn't negate the bad research.
Higher screen time increases the risk for stroke
Dr Vipul Gupta
Stroke has been considered to be one of the most common and leading
causes of morbidity and disability. It is estimated that, in every 40
seconds someone suffers from stroke and a person dies of stroke in every
four minutes globally. While increased screen time is known to result
in adverse health outcomes, stroke is one such deadly disease that has
recently been linked to it.
In the COVID era, digital screen time has gone up throughout the world,
pertaining to the transformation to the online platforms. With many
professionals working from home as well as students attending classes
online, screen time has increased exponentially. It is a lesser-known
fact that the higher screen time is directly linked with a plethora of
co-morbidities including the risk for stroke, diabetes and heart
diseases. Every hour increase in screen time beyond the recommendation
increases stroke risk by nearly 20%.
Multiple studies have shrinkage or loss of tissue volume in gray matter
areas (where “processing” occurs) in internet/gaming addiction, Areas
affected included the important frontal lobe, which governs executive
functions, such as planning, planning, prioritizing, organizing, and
impulse control
According to the World Stroke Organization (WSO), one in four persons
will suffer from a stroke attack in their lifetime. But a critical
question that medical community is facing about stroke risk is that not
only the geriatric population being highly vulnerable, the younger
population is now equally seen susceptible to a stroke attack.
Earlier, stroke was considered to be a disease of the elderly (people in
the age bracket of 60 years and above) but in recent years more stroke
attacks are seen in the younger population. A current study elaborated
that even though the overall incidence of stroke saw a downward trend in
the recent years, there was striking rise in the incidence of stroke
among the younger aged 25 to 45 years. In comparison to US, and other
developed countries, India has a much higher prevalence of stroke cases
among the younger group, which are almost double.
More Screen time – higher the stroke risk
According to a recent US based study, the digital screen time has been
found to be inversely proportional with the life expectancy. As per the
study, for every hour of digital screen time, the life expectancy
reduces by up to 22 minutes. The amount of screen time also had adverse
outcomes including heart attacks, stroke, and cancer.
A large scale study from the United Kingdom with over 40,000
participants concluded that the stroke risk was significantly higher
when screen time was more than 2 hours a day. Higher physical activity
(1 hour walk a day for seven days a week) offered some protection
against the adverse effects of prolonged screen time. In fact the cancer
risk also increased with an increase in screen time.
One develops an addiction to the screen over a period of time and can be
looked upon similar to addiction to recreational substances. There is a
constant balance in the brain between the center for rationalization
(decision making) and the centers for motivation and rewards. Over time,
the center for motivation and reward has an upper hand over the center
for rationalization at which point addiction behavior develops.
A certain chemical substance called dopamine increases in the brain when
an activity results in a pleasurable experience. With time a person
addicted to screen would no longer perceive his/her favorite food,
family and vacation time as a pleasurable experience anymore. This is
because the threshold for dopamine levels that results in a rewarding
experience increases. Similar process takes place in developing
addiction with the screens.
Beyond 2 hours, every hour spend in front of the digital screen raises
the risk of stroke by 20% a major contributing factor for stroke risk
among the younger population.
What can one do to negate the effects of prolonged screen time?
Researchers have found that if one resorts to 2 minutes – 5 minutes of
physical activity for every 20 minutes spent on the screen, it
significantly reduced the chance of developing diabetes and obesity.
Avoid blue light emitting devices when you go to bed. This reduces the
amount of melatonin, a chemical substance that switched your brain from
the wake to the sleep state. Using a device at night will prevent you
from sleeping and in turn predispose you to a higher risk of stroke.
With recommendations and conclusions from the study explained that
toddlers within 2 years of age should strictly refrain from digital
screens, and an adult aged 16+ should maximum expose only two hours a
day to cut down on the long-term risk of stroke. “Dr Vipul Gupta, Head
of neurointervention stroke team at Artemis said that he is frequently
observing young patients with stroke who have sedentary life style
associated with excessive screen time which predisposes to risk factoers
such as obesity, bad eating habits, hypertension and diabetes.”
The author is Director, Neurointervention, Agrim Institute of Neuroscience, ARTEMIS Gurugram
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