Experts Issue Warning About 'Email Apnea'
PITTSBURGH (KDKA) - We've long known that a lack of sleep can be a serious health threat.
Now, doctors have another concern. It's a new condition that could affect anyone who uses an electronic device.
Checking emails, tweets or texts is a simple act we do hundreds of times a day.
Tech expert Linda Stone is sounding the alarm about something she says most of us do subconsciously when we check our email.
"I caught myself shallow breathing and breath holding," Stone said.
It's being called email apnea.
"It turns out about 80 percent of us experience this apnea when we're in front of a screen, especially when we're texting or doing email," Stone said.
Anticipation or not knowing what's in those emails or texts leads to spontaneous breath-holding and that could affect your health.
At a coffee shop, most computer users had no idea they were even doing it until it was pointed out to them.
"I probably never would have noticed it. I'll be more conscious of it now that you brought it up," one person said.
Like sleep apnea, it puts people at risk for a variety of illnesses from stroke and heart attack to diabetes.
Experts are now concerned about the effects of email apnea.
Dr. Josh Werber worries about the long-term effect.
"There could be consequences, subtle consequence with respect to blood pressure, cardiovascular disease, and things that are associated with that," he said.
Psychologist Dr. Fred Meunch studies the impact of technology on the body.
He said it's poor posture combined with the anticipation we experience before opening email that puts us at risk for email apnea.
"What that's doing physiologically, is causing a stress response reaction," he said.
He said scientists are just now starting to look at the health implications and with good reason.
"It's the wild west. We don't know what's happening and it's better to understand this now rather than 20 years from now and we'll have another crisis on our hands possibly," he said.
Experts say awareness of your breathing habits and anxious feelings is the first step to deal with email apnea.
They also recommend you take a five-minute break every hour from the computer.
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