Today, more than ever, we are surrounded by technology: billions of devices are connected to the Internet worldwide. The use of technology has many positive aspects: they help us stay connected, which was the only salvation during the pandemic. Along with the benefits of technology, there are potential health consequences that should not be ignored. A computer is as safe as any other household appliance. However, as with other household appliances, there are potential health risks associated with its use. Considering the impact of computers on health, several risk factors are noted. In each case, the risk is directly proportional to the time spent at and near the computer.
Like all devices that consume electricity, a computer emits electromagnetic radiation, and from household appliances with a PC, the strength of this radiation can only be compared with a microwave oven or a TV. However, people do not spend much time close to them, and electromagnetic radiation has less impact with increasing distance from the source to the object. Thus, the computer is the most dangerous source of electromagnetic radiation.
Under the influence of radiation from the monitor, the grain of the image, and the non-flatness of the monitor screen, computer scientists observe irreversible changes in the eye’s cornea. As a result of these changes, the image begins to focus by the eye’s optical system, not into a round point but into an oval (Roehrs et al., 2019). Visually, the patient observes a change in the shape of objects, blurred edges, and doubling of small images.
People who work on computers for a living, the largest number of health complaints are associated with diseases of muscles and joints. Most often, it is just numbness of the neck, pain in the shoulders and lower back, or tingling in the legs. Pain in the hands, especially in the right hand, caused by long work at the computer has acquired the name tunnel syndrome or carpal tunnel syndrome (Aceto et al., 2020). The cause of the pain is a pinched nerve in the carpal tunnel caused by a constant static load on the same muscles, which can be caused by a large number of monotonous movements or an uncomfortable position of the hands while working with the keyboard. The main diseases of the spine that develop due to a long stay at the computer are osteochondrosis and curvature of the spine.
The Internet helps to survive such difficult times as quarantine and the pandemic. Many people remember how difficult it was for them to worry about relatives and friends because of their inability to see them. Moreover, many employees were transferred to remote work, and students and schoolchildren were to distance learning. People realized that not everyone needs to spend eight hours a day in the office to be productive. Twenty years ago, no one could have imagined such a thing was possible. Web tools’ evolution and cloud services’ development have made physical presence unnecessary (Ye, 2020). Now people live and work in an ecosystem with many constant communication channels. I faced this myself; studying in a distance format helped me to preserve and increase my knowledge and not lose touch with friends. If it weren’t for the Internet, people would have felt much lonely. Therefore, thanks to the technologies, it is possible to keep in touch between relatives and close people even in the most difficult times.
In the Internet age, every second person is a doctor. That is why one cannot believe everything that is written about health on the Internet. And trying to diagnose oneself by comparing symptoms with the clinical picture of some deadly disease is not worth it. Technology has opened the veil of the mystery of medical topics, and now people have become savvier in many matters. Although doctors are not always happy with one’s desire and thirst for knowledge, the Internet has helped make a huge step in providing health services (Abd-Alrazaq et al, 2019). After all, people do not need to call the registry for hours to get to a doctor’s appointment. An appointment with any specialist can be made online with a couple of clicks. Therefore, people cannot be afraid for their well-being when left alone at home – because they can call for emergency help via the Internet.
In conclusion, it is important to note that the computer has a detrimental effect on health in many aspects. For example, its effect on the eyes has been confirmed since long work on the Internet causes dryness and fatigue of the eyes. In order to minimize the impact of a computer on health, it is necessary to combine work and rest time intelligently. The influence of the Internet on modern society cannot be assessed unambiguously. In addition to the disadvantages of the influence of the Internet, there are many advantages. With the help of the Internet, people can be in touch with their relatives in the most difficult times. Moreover, the Internet helps to find information about any ailment and seek help from doctors. Each person is responsible for his life, so he must independently control his behavior and pay attention to this influence in case of negative symptoms.
References
Abd-Alrazaq, A. A., Bewick, B. M., Farragher, T., & Gardner, P. (2019). Factors that affect the use of electronic personal health records among patients: a systematic review. International journal of medical informatics, 126, 164-175. Web.
Aceto, G., Persico, V., & Pescapé, A. (2020). Industry 4.0 and health: Internet of things, big data, and cloud computing for healthcare 4.0. Journal of Industrial Information Integration, 18, 100129. Web.
Roehrs, A., da Costa, C. A., da Rosa Righi, R., da Silva, V. F., Goldim, J. R., & Schmidt, D. C. (2019). Analyzing the performance of a blockchain-based personal health record implementation. Journal of biomedical informatics, 92, 103140. Web.
Ye, J. (2020). The role of health technology and informatics in a global public health emergency: practices and implications from the COVID-19 pandemic. JMIR medical informatics, 8(7), e19866. doi:10.2196/19866