Damage to health from television, computers and the Internet

Constant television, internet or computer games are actually the most convenient form of after-work and leisure activities. All you have to do is switch on the device, drop into the armchair and be entertained. The world is delivered to your home. Unannounced visitors - including those who are welcomed - are perceived as a disaster and, after a brief whispered greeting, also force the guests to take an armchair perspective. In contrast to radio, where you can do other things while listening, television and computers force you to pay more attention.

TV & Computer Hazards

While the sound spreads spherically, i.e. can also be recorded "around corners" and from all directions, the image, which propagates in a straight line as a line of sight according to the optical-physical laws, requires the viewer to stay nearby and be relatively rigid must adjust to it. The mass media of television and the Internet therefore intervene much more strongly in the course of life and in everyday habits than the radio. That is why the question arises so often whether the rays generated in the television set or monitor are harmful as "radiation".

As in the X-ray tube, the electrons in older picture tubes are accelerated and decelerated with high voltage. In-depth scientific studies have shown that a three-hour stay at a distance of two meters from the screen without taking the protective screen into account resulted in a radiation dose that was far below the natural, cosmic radiation exposure of humans. As a result, commercially available modern televisions such as flat screens do not pose a risk of radiation, even for young people and pregnant women.

Correct TV & work on the computer

Even if television and the computer are harmless in this regard, there are two important prerequisites for so-called healthy television and working on the monitor. To protect the eyes, television programs and computer games should never be viewed in a completely dark room. Matt room lighting is required.

The TV lamp or desk lamp is best placed next to or behind the device so that the light does not fall directly on the screen and reflections impair the picture. This room lighting prevents overexertion of the eye muscles, since otherwise the eyes are always forced to a middle position of near and far vision.

In addition, the distance between the viewer and the device should be five to eight times the height of the screen. Unfortunately, this rule of thumb cannot always be implemented when working on a computer monitor. The device is best placed at eye level. It is always important to ensure that the viewing angle is not more than 60 °. This distance allows the eye to merge quick movements that often appear in movies.

Unfortunately, children are often so interested in what is happening on the screen that they stand too close to the television or computer. From the start, you should be accustomed to sitting at the correct distance and not seeing with your nose, but with your eyes. However, it is better not to even "park" children in front of the computer or television, but rather to actively engage with the children outside and inside. The school performance of your children is improved and the child does not run the risk of nervousness and attention disorders.

Damage to health from too much television & computer games

The question that remains to be answered is how regular television and computer games affect our organs. If you have a nervous constitution, disorders of the nervous system such as headache, tiredness, feelings of fear and displeasure, paleness, nausea or the like can occur if you don't skip any program or game and look at or play whatever is offered at random. According to studies by Dutch doctors, the effort required to concentrate corresponds to that of a highly concentrated activity lasting several hours.The normal consumption of alcoholic beverages before and during television also weakens the nervous system's ability to withstand television viewing. So-called photostimulation, television can also trigger epileptic convulsions or a similar functional disorder of the brain.

Mostly they are people who have had cramps before; TV and computer games only rarely trigger such an attack. Switching and especially the flickering of the picture cause intense changes in brightness which, according to medical observation, reveal fluctuations in the brain waveform when examining brain activity in the electroencephalogram (EEG) in epilepsy sufferers - sometimes also in healthy people. The closer the person concerned is to the computer or TV set and the more often he regulates himself, the more frequently such phenomena can occur.

Situations such as strongly changing light stimuli should therefore be avoided in epileptics, although this effect only occurs very rarely with modern devices. But also the eyes of the healthy are strained if they have to look at an object for a long time that is only a short distance away. In order for the focal length to be smaller, the lens of the eye must bulge more. Usually, strained eyes recover by looking into the distance. Documentary or feature films with extensive landscape shots are no substitute for this because the distance to the picture remains small. Often times, defects in the eyes that have not been noticed for a long time also cause symptoms such as pain or inflammation when watching TV or the computer.

People with reading glasses should wear special glasses for the middle position of the eyes. The television is accompanied by ultra-sound waves that can still be perceived as high-pitched whistling tones by the child's hearing. These fine, persistent tones also cause animals with sensitive hearing, such as cats, to flee from a television set that is switched on. It is not recommended to turn on the TV during meals. Persistent distraction while eating is often the cause of indigestion. Unnecessary swallowing of air and reduced ability to chew can then lead to a gastric mucosal disease as an unpleasant side effect.

In addition, indigestion is favored by sitting in front of the screen all the time. The constant one-sided posture inevitably causes a lack of blood circulation and slackness of the heart muscle. Sitting in an armchair in particular can promote the formation of varicose veins and peripheral circulatory disorders. It is therefore advisable to do movement exercises or to shift your body position before or after several hours of watching TV or working on the computer, as is possible, for example, with a rocking chair. Elevating the feet prevents the venous vessels from congesting in the lower extremities and allows the body to relax.

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TV & computer games make you nervous & sleepless

If exciting events were to be seen on the screen, both children and adults deal with it in bed and in dreams. No wonder they get nervous when sleep doesn't have the usual length and depth. Especially in children, sleep disorders can have a slight effect in the form of loss of appetite. Therefore, a program that is unsuitable for children should always be switched off. It is also not recommended that children are allowed to freely use the television.

For children up to ten years of age it is enough to watch TV for half an hour a day. For older children, one to one and a half hours are possible. The evening programs with the unfortunately often violent feature films are usually only for adults. The weekly television standard of the adult should be sufficient with eight to ten hours. People who are the sixty-fifth According to medical experience, you should watch TV reduce to three times two hours a week. Similar time specifications are also recommended for playing computer games or working on the PC.

Today over 75 million people sit in front of the screen in Germany every week. The benefits of television, the Internet, and the computer are known around the world. But only what interests, educates, delights and relaxes us is also of benefit to our health. Too much can cause a variety of health problems, but this is not really due to television or the computer, but rather to those who use these technologies. That is why the shows on television and the Internet should never be the focus, only the starting point for conversations. Incidentally, it has been proven that a good book in the evening can promote sleep, calm you down and potentially prevent dementia.