Can prolonged use of mobile phones cause cerebral infarction? These habits are no joke!

Expert of this article: Wang Li, attending physician of the Department of Neurology, Xuangang Hospital, Zhangjiakou City, Hebei Province

Reviewer of this article: Xie Yimin, Director of the Department of Neurology, Xuangang Hospital, Zhangjiakou City, Hebei Province, Chief Physician

"Playing with mobile phone caused cerebral infarction?" Recently, such a piece of news scared many netizens.

It was reported that Ayong played games crazily every day during his vacation, and he would play for seven or eight hours without moving. One day, Ayong just got up and sat down at the dinner table, and he felt something was wrong. His hands were shaking and he couldn't hold the chopsticks steadily. He had a splitting headache and everything he saw was spinning.

He was then admitted to the hospital for treatment, and the CT and MRI examinations of his head showed that an acute infarction occurred in the right cerebellum. In this regard, the doctor said that this was probably related to his original "cervical spondylosis" and the long time he spent playing with his mobile phone.

How dangerous is cerebral infarction? Can playing with mobile phones really induce cerebral infarction? If you don't know yet, you must read it!

What is cerebral infarction?

Cerebral infarction, also known as ischemic stroke, refers to a clinical syndrome in which blood vessels supplying the brain are blocked due to various causes, resulting in impaired blood supply to the brain and ultimately leading to ischemia and hypoxic necrosis of local brain tissue, thereby rapidly causing corresponding neurological deficits.

Cerebral infarction is the most common type of cerebrovascular disease, accounting for about 70%-80%. If it is not treated promptly and reasonably, it will leave sequelae such as hemiplegia, speech difficulties, blurred vision, and even vegetative state, which will eventually lead to a high disability rate, mortality rate, and recurrence rate.

What are the common causes of cerebral infarction?

Cerebral infarction is a common cerebrovascular disease among middle-aged and elderly people over 50 years old. However, with the improvement of living standards, the age of onset of cerebral infarction is getting younger and younger, and young people in their twenties and thirties also often suffer from the disease, which requires more of our attention.

Common causes of cerebral infarction include:

Atherosclerosis: Long-term suffering from hypertension, hyperlipidemia, diabetes without standardized treatment, obesity, smoking, high work pressure and eating high-calorie foods can lead to the occurrence of acute cerebral infarction.

Trauma and improper violent neck massage can cause tearing of the endothelium of the neck blood vessels, resulting in dissecting aneurysms and causing acute cerebral infarction. Diseases such as moyamoya disease and large-vessel arteritis can also induce cerebral infarction.

Heart valvular disease, endocardial infection, arrhythmia (atrial fibrillation is the most common): the heart's contractile function decreases, blood easily stagnates inside the heart and forms blood clots, which can then flow through the blood throughout the body and cause cerebral infarction; congenital heart developmental abnormalities lead to patent foramen ovale, and retrograde blood clots from the veins can directly shunt into the arterial system through the unclosed foramen ovale in the heart, causing cerebral infarction.

Hypercoagulable state: such as polycythemia, myelodysplastic syndrome, and the lack of some components in the anticoagulant system can cause a hypercoagulable state of the blood, thereby forming blood clots and causing cerebral infarction.

Can playing with mobile phone induce cerebral infarction?

Playing with mobile phones in one posture often involves sitting or lying for a long time. This seemingly casual action can cause slow blood flow and cervical spondylosis. The bilateral vertebral arteries that supply blood to the back of the brain run in the intervertebral foramen of the cervical spine. When the cervical vertebrae are dislocated or hyperplastic, they will compress or stimulate the vertebral arteries and cause corresponding vertebral artery insufficiency. In addition, the blood pressure, blood lipids, and blood sugar levels increase, which can induce cerebral infarction in severe cases.

Once you start playing with your phone, you will forget to eat and sleep, and you will not be able to sleep at night. The brain keeps running at high speed for a long time without rest. At this time, the body is in a state of over-consumption, the brain tissue is not supplied with enough nutrients, and hypoglycemia and brain hypoxia often occur. Hypoglycemia and brain hypoxia can cause cerebral vasospasm, leading to cerebral infarction.

Often smoking while playing with mobile phones. Nicotine and other factors produced by smoking will damage the blood vessel wall and induce thrombosis. When the thrombus breaks off and blocks the cerebral blood vessels, it will cause cerebral infarction.

When playing with mobile phones, the mood is too tense and excited. In the state of stress, the heart rate of a person is constantly fluctuating, blood pressure will also increase, adrenaline will be continuously secreted, blood vessels will be aggravated, and cerebral infarction will be induced.

What are the warning signs of cerebral infarction?

There are often some signs before cerebral infarction occurs. If it can be discovered and treated in time, the disability and mortality rates of cerebral infarction can be greatly reduced.

In daily life, we can try to judge and identify cerebral infarction by ourselves through the "Stroke 120" mnemonic.

First action “1”: See an asymmetrical face.

Second action "2": Raise both arms, hold for more than 10 seconds, and check if there is unilateral weakness.

The third action “0”: listen to whether the speech is clear.

When one of these symptoms appears, you should pay enough attention to it. It may be a cerebral infarction and you should seek medical attention promptly.

How to prevent cerebral infarction?

1. Control blood pressure (normal blood pressure is less than 140/90 mmHg), blood lipids, and weight (body mass index 18.5-24.9 kg/m2);

2. Adhere to daily physical exercise, with moderate intensity exercise for at least 30 minutes a day;

3. Quit smoking and drinking;

4. Eat a balanced diet and control daily salt intake (less than 6g of salt);

5. Control heart rhythm and heart rate, and treat primary heart diseases;

6. Keep a happy mood to prevent anxiety and depression;

7. Control blood sugar. Fasting blood sugar should be less than 6.0mmol/L, postprandial blood sugar should be less than 10.0mmol/L, and glycosylated hemoglobin should be less than 7.0%.

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