many people i have seen that they have different problems, while surfing, working on the computer, many have some eye eatching problems, many have some spinal cord strains, many have some problems of seating in the air conditioning room and in front of computer.

so are there any such instances in which the people suffered of certain computer related deceases or accute problems of health. is rediation from computer works out? is looking on the computer steadily makes problem to the eyes and the neck ? is there any hand crampling like experience?

or what?

i'm assuming you mean diseases...

carpal tunnel syndrome is common in computer users, but has always been an issue for any typist. new, flat-screen type displays do not have any radiation (LCD, tft, etc.) due to their architecture so there should never be a worry there. even CRTs are really not a problem (mostly just hype in the early days) though i would imagine sitting all day staring at a monitor is hard on the eyes.

one thing i do know is that you need to make sure your refresh rate does not "beat" against the lights in your viewing area (a "beat" frequency is the difference between two sources, say a display and a light source) in the US, power cycles at 60 Hz. incandescent lights don't really flicker, but flourescent lights do. so, if your screen refresh is set to 72 Hz, you'll notice a 12 Hz beat (72 - 60). low frequencies tend to cause drowsiness and headaches, i.e. the higher your refresh the less chance of problems related to this phenomena (i set mine to no less than 85 Hz).

btw, i believe that in europe power cycles at 50 Hz so a 72 Hz refresh would be groovy.

taks

__________________
goodbye richard pryor :(...

The EMF spewed off by a monitor isn't good for you at all... but it doesn't matter, everywhere you turn stuff is spewing out EMFs

__________________
-The Wolf
http://www.ryanmercer.com
http://www.youtube.com/user/ryanmercer317
http://www.pleasegodhelpme.org

I don't know that this is really "science".

Yes, fluorescent lights can make you tired; older monitors in close proximity may generate minor amounts of radiation. You won't go blind or impair your vision from staring at a screen 8 hours a day, but eye strain is a consideration. As for hand and neck cramping, those are legitimate concerns; a person out-of-shape can get the ol' repetitive stress disorder (AKA "Carpal Tunnel Syndrome"), a precursor to arthritis. Keyboard pads and hands-free devices are becoming mainstream in many offices now, so the problem is at least starting to be addressed.

The biggest problem associated with large amounts of data entry and computer usage is lack of exercise. Sitting at a keyboard all day is detrimental to heartrate, bloodflow, and muscle usage. Unless a person with such a job hits the gym or engages in some other cardiovascular activity, he/she can become fat, slow, and weak. Just getting up a few times a day to get a cup of water, or maybe take the stairs to a meeting is a good idea.

I've heard of a few stories of actual deaths caused by computers...

There was a man who died from a blood clod which formed because he sat for the whole day in front of his computer.

And then there are those stories about heavily game-addicted Koreans who forget to eat and drink.

__________________
Science is a way of trying not to fool yourself. The first principle is that you must not fool yourself, and you are the easiest person to fool.
-- Richard Feynman

Yeah there was the Korean video gamer that died not too long ago... he sat at the computer for something like 36 hours at a net cafe and stood up to leave and dropped over deader than a doornail. I've heard other counts of people who have spent days on end infront of computers downing caffeine and have literally exploded their hearts. Heh. Crazy people.

__________________
-The Wolf
http://www.ryanmercer.com
http://www.youtube.com/user/ryanmercer317
http://www.pleasegodhelpme.org

based on what? i've yet to see credible science pointing to negative effects from electromagnetic radiation from a CRT. newer ones emit very little anyway.

taks

__________________
goodbye richard pryor :(...

attributing causation to such a happening is an incredible stretch.

taks

__________________
goodbye richard pryor :(...

Check Deep Vein Thrombosis, the stretch isn't as far as you might think.

__________________
‘To those who regard “crime fiction” as some sacred icon which must follow a rigid formula, I will always be the man who writes 18-syllable haiku.’Trying to make sense of computers, The Error Log.

Blood clods have killed people after long flights, so it is not impossible.

__________________
Science is a way of trying not to fool yourself. The first principle is that you must not fool yourself, and you are the easiest person to fool.
-- Richard Feynman

I stay in front of the computer some 12 hours a day. I´ve had troubles with my back (solved after changing the chair), hands (carpal), eyes (they get red and tired at the end of the day). I also have sleeping problems from keep thinking bout programming after shutting off. But I couldn´t live without it.

__________________
What brings us together is stronger than what pulls us apart

Do you have any credible scient saying they are good for you? EMF's do cause cancer... take a look at cancer rates around large power lines. I'm not saying using a monitor a day is going to instantly give you cancer, but it does increase the risk... however so does eating or drinking just about anything anymore, as does simply breathing in air anymore. However if monitors gave off 10x more than they did now... you'd still find me sitting infront of a monitor here at work every day and my bank of monitors at home every night.

__________________
-The Wolf
http://www.ryanmercer.com
http://www.youtube.com/user/ryanmercer317
http://www.pleasegodhelpme.org

Not much of a stretch... this is why military forces around the world make tank drivers and what not do stretching exercises and other things to prevent them from having similiar things happen when they are cramped up for long periods. Sure the computer didn't cause it, but using the computer did.

__________________
-The Wolf
http://www.ryanmercer.com
http://www.youtube.com/user/ryanmercer317
http://www.pleasegodhelpme.org

Exactly, you could tell me "Ryan, your computers will kill you before the year is over unless you reduce your useage immediately" I'd reply "I want to be burried with one of my keyboards".

__________________
-The Wolf
http://www.ryanmercer.com
http://www.youtube.com/user/ryanmercer317
http://www.pleasegodhelpme.org

thanks taks, ryanmercer,argos,henrik, kullat nunu, grandes, for the valuable replies and the link. some are having a sort of sleeplessness problem, as argos is almost 12hrs on computer( that's a guinese book of record like experience).

sunil

that one NBC reporter died from a blood clot in his legs when he was in a Bradley fighting vehicle when the US invaded Iraq a couple of years ago.
not computer related, but the same deal that was mentioned before.

__________________
"blacker than the blackest black... times infinity."- Nathan Explosion
The.. Best.. Thread..Ever...

I'm not caring for this mental image of you.

I, too, sit for hours in front of 7 computers monitoring data (refreshing 3-30 seconds). I read about 200-300 emails a day. I don't drink coffee while at work. I don't have a lunch break. I'm only "allowed" to leave the room up to 10 minutes at a time. I average 8-12 hours per work day (depending on coverage). I often take mental breaks, like jumping up and down or dancing. Of course, no one is around during these breaks.

I'm going to die, aren't I?

awesome reply candy, thanks you have did another superior record brek seating in front of not only one but on 7 computers at a time (do you use one keyboard for all the 7 computers? ) but daily functioning is just looking a great grand circus, is it not for your eyes ? candy.

I know of a lady on another message board who had this problem. She had to go to the hospital for a sonogram. Then she had to take medicines to get rid of the blood clot in her leg. These things often happen at the back of the leg, behind the knee.

Last year I had a growing problem with numb feet, and I had to go to the hospital and have a sonogram. But, no clot. But I had to change chairs. My old chair was cutting off the blood circulation to my feet. The front of the chair seat was pressing against the backs of my legs, around the back-of-the-knee areas.

Older people need to keep this in mind. Also, a young NBC reporter died of this during the first days of the war in Iraq. He had to sit in a small side-seat on some kind of military vehicle for days at a time. That cut off the circulation to his feet.

http://www.kvoa.com/Global/story.asp?S=3029942

There are an additional 3 computers that I only need to glance at every hour or so. I didn't include those. All the PC's come with their own keyboards. Sometimes, it gets confusing when you think you are using the keyboard for a computer and it's the wrong one.

I've noticed that my left thumb is starting to give me discomfort. If I try to pick up a stapler (something semi-heavy), my left hand seems to give out. Is this carpal tunnel? I've only heard of the "disease", so I'm not familiar with the symptoms.

I've been doing this particular job since 2001. I will most likely do it for another year, before applying for another within the company. Here's another weird thing I've noticed. I get rashes more often and my moles start itching. I have a lot of moles on my neck (there were there before the job - hereditary). This is most likely stress related.

I'm going to have to think about the eyes. Come to think of it, they are not as sharp as they used to be.

I didn't sign up for eye insurance this year. I suppose I will next year, so I can get my eyes checked. Perhaps, get some cool glasses to wear.

congrats CANDY for 11,374 postings, the huge work you are doing that's really commendable.

(but today computer is one of the most essential thing for the life of humanbeing on the earth) though it has some few drawbacks.

sunil

True, and thank you.

I thought this was disproven many years ago. After all, the normal magnetic field in your body is about 200 times that given off by a nearby power line. The electric field given off by those lines is less than the natural fluctuation of the electric field on Earth's surface, too.

And simply saying that no one can show something is good for you is not the same as saying that someone has shown it to be harmful. This same argument is often used by fluoridation opponents, creationists, homeopaths, and those people who sell magnets you strap to your body to cure all your diseases. There's probably even a name for that fallacy.

Back to EMFs. Here's a nice link with a lot more info than I can give.
http://www.mcw.edu/gcrc/cop/powerlin...r-FAQ/toc.html

So I guess there's still some controversy. But if I recall correctly, the original studies that suggested health/power line links were flawed in that the population samples didn't account for wealth. All of the people who lived near power lines were rather poor (and a negative health correlation has been shown for that demographic), while the non-power line people tended to be wealthier. When that was corrected for, the effect disappeared.

And here's one that mentions the flawed study.
http://www.quackwatch.org/01Quackery...opics/emf.html

As to computer-related injuries, I've had a few that might be.

I noticed during my third year of university, when I started pulling long programming stints, that my vision was getting bad. I used to be able to read the copyright notice on the bottom of the eye exam chart (smaller than the smallest line). In that year, my vision dropped so I could only read the second line. But both my parents wear glasses, so it could just be a genetic thing, or it could be related to an illness I had that year.

Occasionally I get hand cramps after typing for a few hours, but I have arthritis, so again... it might count as computer-related, if your statistical results depend on it.

If you consider massive sleep deprivation to be injurious, then that's a pretty common one.

One injury I had which was definitely caused by a computer involved an old, non-functioning Mac 2E, a home-made trebuchet, and a big Mac-shaped bruise on my back. The pain was offset by the satisfaction of knowing that if they'd waited until I moved before launching, it would have hit the dead centre of the target. There was also the time a friend broke a keyboard over my head, but that didn't really hurt (and the video of it was great!).

nice reply snarko, if a bell can be given in the crampling hand it will ring automatically.
and if we lift a big weight in our hands, our hands later starts crampling for a few time.

sunil

My thumb discomfort is not cramps. Like right now, if I squeeze down on both thumbs with my fingers, I get some pain. Okay, I'm starting to get worried.

Weird, you'd think it would be my fingers that suffer, but instead it is my thumbs. I wonder if the inactivity is a factor. The thumbs just hold a still motion for hours.

It would probably depend on your usual working posision, do you rest your hands so the thumbs are resting or are they slightly bent against something or are one of the joints pushing against something?
When you say there's some pain, which direction are you squeezing?
Is the pain in one of the joints or in the muscles?

__________________
‘To those who regard “crime fiction” as some sacred icon which must follow a rigid formula, I will always be the man who writes 18-syllable haiku.’Trying to make sense of computers, The Error Log.

Okay, this is weird, the pain is almost nil in my thumb. I've been off work for 8 hours now.

Ha ha.
"laptop computers pose a long-term threat to the fertility of young men who use them because they can reduce sperm formation by raising temperatures in the genital area..."

http://spaces.msn.com/members/daruks...r9NQ!640.entry

http://ergo.human.cornell.edu/hotlaptops.html

Candy, see here :what happened once upon a time :

that one new aspirant went to the interview for the post of "computer analyst, his interview session was starts, the panel asked him his name, he replied, later he break his thumbs in front of them and some other finger twistings, he was selected for the post.

it means the interview panel was assured with the candidate that he is just sinking his thumbs on the keyboard.