The technology, which has given us so much pain and pleasure at the same time, has truly found new ways to screw us up again.
Experts have disclosed silly sounding new health problems and yes, they all blame it to our evolving technology.
No, it's nothing like appendicitis, sinusitis or meningitis at all - but it sounded so much like these.
How about Nintendinitis or WhatsAppitis for a health issue? Would you believe there's actually a condition such as this?
Apparently, Nintendinitis is not entirely new. Its first mention came in 1990 and it is also known as gamer's girp. Reported thereafter were more injuries related with the use of video games and other technological devices. Previously, victims were children. Now, such cases have been spotted in adults. From holding game controllers, the techno-medical case now involves the use of smartphones.
The medical journal The Lancet has reported one case wherein an unnamed emergency medicine physician has been diagnosed with a technology caused health condition during the holiday season. Said physician is 34 years old and is 27 weeks pregnant.
Inés Fernandez-Guerrero of General University Hospital in Granada relates that the said patient, a physician by profession, complained of a sudden onset of pain on both wrists one morning. Tracing back her medical history, the patient showed no trauma of any kind or any extreme physical activity in the past days.
The patient, though, recalled holding her smartphone for six hours on Dec. 25 which weighed 130 g., she replied to messages sent to her via instant messaging service WhatsApp, making nonstop movements using both of her thumbs to send these messages.
Ruled out for the pain were other conditions such as nerve damage and carpal tunnel syndrome and instead discovered another condition.
"The diagnosis for the bilateral wrist pain was WhatsAppitis," Fernando-Guerrero said.
Don't laugh just yet. There's more.
Many doctors have earlier pointed to technology as the main cause for emerging health issues.
A so-called Blackberry Thumb health condition, for one, points to an overuse of the scroll wheel of a mobile handset. Another is Wii Elbow, a pain caused by the use of the motion controller of Nintendo for a long period. Repeatedly hitting gamepad buttons, meanwhile, leads to Nintendinitis.
"Physicians need to be mindful of these new disorders," Fernando-Guerrero also wrote.
Suggested treatment to the physician-patient is a complete abstinence from using her mobile phone to send messages. Not to forget, her non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs as well.
The patient, being pregnant, only took acetaminophen and failed to entirely abstain from using her phone. She has reportedly been back exchanging messages on New Year's Eve.
