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造成身体损伤 笔记本电脑是个讨厌的家伙？
【转贴】造成身体损伤 笔记本电脑是个讨厌的家伙？
CNET科技资讯网 6月1日国际报道当Ram Viswanadha开始用笔记本电脑办公时，他决定将他的老台式PC扔在一边。笔记本电脑的尺寸，速度以及内存优势将旧电脑淘汰掉。
但是，让这位30岁的硅谷软件工程师不曾料想的是，严重的扭伤令他不得不离开他4年多来每日都使用的笔记本电脑。
Viswanadha的故事是工作场所人体工学里面最严重的一种后果，但是，根据美国的医生及人体工学方面的专家表示，类似这样的事情正变得越来越普遍。当越来越多的白领人士使用笔记本电脑，他们的疼痛，扭伤会越来越多。
康莱尔大学人性因素及人体工程学实验室的主任Alan Hedge表示：“当你考虑笔记本电脑的设计，它永远都不是替代台式机的最好机器。笔记本电脑是用来偶尔使用的，便携性是它的特色。这种电脑永远不适合用来一天8小时，一年52周的使用。”
使用笔记本电脑同扭伤之间的关系尚缺乏充足的数据证明信息，但是，医生的报告却反映出，整天使用笔记本电脑的人造成扭伤的情况正在稳步上升。IDC的数据显示，2004年，全球笔记本电脑的销量接近4900万，几乎是2000年的两倍。并且，笔记本电脑占到了整个计算机市场的四分之一，在美国，到2008年，笔记本电脑的销量将超过台式电脑。
笔记本电脑存在的主要问题是，它的屏幕与键盘之间的距离太近了。没有外设的帮助，笔记本电脑用户只有两个选择，他们要么僵硬脖子，低头观看屏幕，要么将机器升至眼睛适合的位置，但这样一来，他们的肩膀和手臂就会遭罪。
使用笔记本电脑还容易制造腕关节损伤，因为笔记本电脑的键盘太小了，它会造成手部运动的局促。
宾夕法尼亚州的一名整形外科医生Nicholas DiNubile说：“笔记本电脑是你躯体灾难的全部根源。尤其是对肌肉与骨骼系统的毛病。”
笔记本电脑还能够造成其它问题。有人已经被笔记本电脑产生的热烧伤。温度问题也给那些长时间使用它的人造成了很多问题。经常旅行的人，由于长时间的将笔记本电脑背在身上，他们的背部，手，以及肩部将受到影响。
对Viswanadha来说，脖子的扭伤是他受伤的根源。他的医生说，长时间的使用笔记本电脑已经让他的颈部肌肉变短了，因此，压力到了他的脊柱，并且影响到了控制其手部运动的神经。最后，他的手失感觉麻木，疼痛，他被诊断为反复性扭伤。
但坏消息还未结束。
他说：“这几个月，我不知道自己该怎么办。我是家里唯一的经济来源，我有几分消沉。”
如何预防
许多笔记本电脑造成的损伤可以可以被避免。最好使用集线站（docking stations），单独的键盘，鼠标等外设，这是避免颈部，肩部不适的最佳途径。这些附件让用户能够调节眼睛与屏幕，手与键盘之间的距离。
人性因素及人体工程学实验室的Tom Albin表示，笔记本电脑的理想高度是眼睛水平位置以下大约20度的地方。
特殊的垫子与托盘，有些还带风扇能够减少被烫伤的风险。
然而，这些措施对旅行者来说都不太实际。
生活方式以及工作习惯也对避免计算机方面的疾病至关重要。每20至30分钟，你应该休息一下，舒展舒展你的身体。另外，健康的饮食以及锻炼都可以减少电脑引起的伤害。
人们在笔记本电脑上投入时间越来越多的另外一个原因是，笔记本电脑逐渐成为一种移动娱乐中心，它们通常配备有DVD播放器，大屏幕显示器，处理器的性能也越来越好。
旧金山圣佛朗西斯医院的内科医生Lisa Zacharewicz表示，男人比女人更容易生产身体方面的毛病，因为女性的身材比男性小。
青少年也未能幸免。Zacharewicz表示，过去10年，因为计算机造成身体损伤人群的平均年龄急剧下降，从原来的45至50岁下降至28至34岁之间。
她说：“人们只认为这些损伤是勤奋工作造成的，但是，如果你25岁，你不应该有这些损伤。” （编辑：孙莹）
Is your laptop a pain in the neck?
Published: May 31, 2005, 4:00 AM PDT
By Alorie Gilbert
Staff Writer, CNET News.com
When Ram Viswanadha began using a laptop at work, he decided to shelve his clunky old desktop PC for good. The notebook's size, speed and memory blew the older computer away.
What the 30-year-old Silicon Valley software engineer didn't bargain for was a severe case of repetitive strain injury--and a three-month disability leave--from hunching over his laptop day in and day out for four years.
Viswanadha's situation is a worst-case scenario in workplace ergonomics, but stories like his are becoming more common, according to doctors and ergonomic experts across the country. As people ditch desktop computers to work full time on laptops, doctors expect to see a lot more pains, strains and injuries among white collar workers.
"When you look at the design, laptops were never (meant) as a replacement for a desktop computer," said Alan Hedge, director of the Human Factors and Ergonomics Laboratory at Cornell University. "The idea was portability for occasional use. It was never intended to be a machine you would work at for eight hours a day, 52 weeks a year."
More than 9,200 nongovernment workers reported missing a day or more of work because of typing and keyboarding-related injuries in 2003, according to figures from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Ninety-two percent of those cases were associated with worker motion or position, the bureau said. More than a third those workers missed over a month of work because of their injuries.
For notebook computer use, such statistical information on injuries is scarce, but doctors report a steady stream of new patients who've overdone it on the machines. That's not surprising given the boom in laptop sales. Nearly 49 million notebooks were sold in 2004 worldwide, almost double the number sold in 2000, according to market researcher IDC. The devices account for more than a quarter of the computer market, and are set to surpass desktop sales in the United States by 2008, IDC said.
The main problem with laptops is that the screen and keyboard are so close together. Without the aid of peripherals, laptop users have two choices, neither of which would win them any points for posture. They can cramp their neck down to view the monitor or they can elevate the machine to eye level, which can wreak havoc on shoulders and arms.
And the wrists lose regardless, because the keyboard is so small, leading to awkward hand positioning.
"These are all recipes for disaster for your body, and your musculoskeletal system especially," said Nicholas DiNubile, an orthopedic surgeon in Havertown, Penn., a Philadelphia suburb.
Laptops can cause other physical woes. People have been burned by the heat the machines generate. The temperature issue can also cause fertility problems in men who place the machines on their laps for prolonged periods. Frequent travelers can put strain on backs, hands and shoulders by lugging a laptop around.
For Viswanadha, neck strain was the root of injury. His doctors said spending so much time on the laptop had shortened his neck muscles,
putting pressure on his spine and compressing the nerves that run to his hands. Eventually his hands began feeling numb and painful and he was diagnosed with repetitive strain injury--a family of ailments caused by repetitive motion and poor posture.
But the bad news went beyond his body.
"For a couple of months, I didn't know what I was going to do; I have a single-income family," he said. "I kind of went into a depression state."
Viswanadha is back at work now, however, and learning to cope with his injury, but he wishes he had taken precautions much earlier.
An ounce of prevention...
Many laptop-related injuries can be avoided. The use of peripherals such as docking stations, separate keyboards and mice is probably the easiest way to avoid neck and shoulder trouble. These add-ons let users adjust monitors to eye level while keeping arms and shoulders in a natural position. Several companies offer laptop stands that prop machines up to desired height.
The ideal height of the monitor is about 20 degrees below horizontal eye level, or 8 inches below eye level at a 20 inch viewing distance, said Tom Albin of the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society.
Special pads and trays--some with fans--can reduce risk of burns and other heat-related problems.
However, these bulky items can be unpractical for travelers. Their ergonomic benefit may be offset by the strain of hauling them around in a shoulder or handbag, Hedge said.
Lifestyle choices and work habits are also critical to warding off computer-related ailments. Taking short breaks every 20 to 30 minutes, stretching, eating healthy and exercise all reduce the risk of injury with any type of computer. Knowing when to shut off the devices and call it day is important too, especially with portable machines.
"The portability is problematic," said Lisa Zacharewicz, a doctor of internal medicine at Saint Francis Memorial Hospital in San Francisco. "People can take a laptop home with them, so they never get off of it."
Another reason people are spending more time on laptops is that they've become mobile entertainment centers complete with DVD players, bigger screens and more-powerful processors. These feature-laden machines--though often heavier and less portable than previous devices--will dominate the laptop scene in the future, Hedge said.
Laptops often cause men physical problems more often than they do women because a small stature helps, Zacharewicz said. Being over 40 and having a history of orthopedic injuries, such as tennis elbow or tendonitis, are other risk factors, DiNubile said.
Yet the young are not immune. Zacharewicz estimates the average age of patients she sees with computer-related tendonitis has dropped dramatically over the past decade, from between 45 and 50 to between 28 and 34.
"People just think that's part of working hard--that you have to hurt," she said. "But if you're 25, you shouldn't have tendonitis."
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2005-06-04 13:01:21
