Everyone has always suspected it, some more and some less. And there are even those who say it openly: mobile phones could be the cause of many evils. Looks like we're adding another to the list today: hypertension. Scientists also wondered about the correlation between smartphone use and high blood pressure: here's what they discovered.
A sea of data
In the latest study, published in European Heart Journal - Digital Health (I link it here) the researchers looked at a sample of 212,046 people.
The aim, as mentioned, was to understand if there was a link between the time spent talking on the cell phone and the onset of hypertension. And after analyzing the data, scientists discovered that 13,984 participants had developed hypertension, approximately 7% of the sample. The “large group” of those who spent more than 30 minutes a week on the phone is associated with a del% increase 12 the risk of developing hypertension.
Smartphones and hypertension: what is the possible cause?
Professor Xianhui Qin, co-author of the study and researcher at Southern Medical University in Guangzhou, China, points out that no direct link has been found between the amount of time spent on a cell phone and high blood pressure. Ditto for the use of hands-free devices.
His team formulates two possible hypotheses, to be tested in future studies, for these results: a link between increased cell phone use and worsening mental health, and a possible role of high-frequency radiation.
Let's take it with a grain of salt
It is important to emphasize that the study is observational in nature: there may be other lifestyle factors that influence the hypertension of patients considered. For example, strenuous work.
On the other hand, the study sample is not representative of the entire population, because it mainly includes middle-aged or older white adults. And in better overall health than the general UK population.
Finally, the database used, the UK Biobank with data on the lifestyle of the adult population in the United Kingdom, has stopped at 2010. Since then, even smartphone use has changed (it's up to you if it's for the better or for the worse).
Smartphones and hypertension, essentially
The study is absolutely incomplete and premature, but the scientists' intuition deserves further investigation. However, it is a wake-up call for all of us who spend hours and hours talking on the phone.
The next in-depth studies could definitively make fun of the old advertising slogan that a few years ago read: "one call can extend your life".
Far from it, perhaps.
