2010.10.04 09:16
No laps for warm laptops; skin damage is possible CHICAGO – Have you ever worked on your laptop computer with it sitting on your lap, heating up your legs? If so, you might want to rethink that habit. Doing it a lot can lead to "toasted skin syndrome," an unusual-looking mottled skin condition caused by long-term heat exposure, according to medical reports. In one recent case, a 12-year-old boy developed a sponge-patterned skin discoloration on his left thigh after playing computer games a few hours every day for several months. "He recognized that the laptop got hot on the left side; however, regardless of that, he did not change its position," Swiss researchers reported in an article published Monday in the journal Pediatrics. Another case involved a Virginia law student who sought treatment for the mottled discoloration on her leg. Dr. Kimberley Salkey, who treated the young woman, was stumped until she learned the student spent about six hours a day working with her computer propped on her lap. The temperature underneath registered 125 degrees. That case, from 2007, is one of 10 laptop-related cases reported in medical journals in the past six years. The condition also can be caused by overuse of heating pads and other heat sources that usually aren't hot enough to cause burns. It's generally harmless but can cause permanent skin darkening. In very rare cases, it can cause damage leading to skin cancers, said the Swiss researchers, Drs. Andreas Arnold and Peter Itin from University Hospital Basel. They do not cite any skin cancer cases linked to laptop use, but suggest, to be safe, placing a carrying case or other heat shield under the laptop if you have to hold it in your lap. Salkey, an assistant dermatology professor at Eastern Virginia Medical School, said that under the microscope, the affected skin resembles skin damaged by long-term sun exposure. Major manufacturers including Apple, Hewlett Packard and Dell warn in user manuals against placing laptops on laps or exposed skin for extended periods of time because of the risk for burns. A medical report several years ago found that men who used laptops on their laps had elevated scrotum temperatures. If prolonged, that kind of heat can decrease sperm production, which can potentially lead to infertility. Whether laptop use itself can cause that kind of harm hasn't been confirmed. In the past, "toasted skin syndrome" has occurred in workers whose jobs require being close to a heat source, including bakers and glass blowers, and, before central heating, in people who huddled near potbellied stoves to stay warm. Dr. Anthony J. Mancini, dermatology chief at Children's Memorial Hospital in Chicago, said he'd treated a boy who developed the condition from using a heating pad "hours at a time" to soothe a thigh injured in soccer. Mancini said he'd also seen a case caused by a hot water bottle. He noted that chronic, prolonged skin inflammation can potentially increase chances for squamous cell skin cancer, which is more aggressive than the most common skin cancer. But Mancini said it's unlikely computer use would lead to cancer since it's so easy to avoid prolonged close skin contact with laptops. |
No. | Subject | Date | Author | Last Update | Views |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Notice | How to write your comments onto a webpage [2] | 2016.07.06 | 운영자 | 2016.11.20 | 18193 |
Notice | How to Upload Pictures in webpages | 2016.07.06 | 운영자 | 2018.10.19 | 32347 |
Notice | How to use Rich Text Editor [3] | 2016.06.28 | 운영자 | 2018.10.19 | 5923 |
Notice | How to Write a Webpage | 2016.06.28 | 운영자 | 2020.12.23 | 43839 |
7743 | [re] [조의열 Online 사진전] 2010 Pictures - Oregon Seashore [2] | 2010.09.28 | 조의열*66 | 2010.09.28 | 9634 |
7742 | [조의열 Online 사진전] 2010 Pictures - Cathedral and Flowers | 2010.09.27 | 조의열*66 | 2010.09.27 | 9745 |
7741 | 친구 이야기- 테너 / 박인수 [8] | 2010.09.28 | Sukjoo#65 | 2010.09.28 | 8677 |
7740 | [Autumn in Colorado] McClure Pass, North [3] | 2010.09.30 | 운영자 | 2010.09.30 | 8803 |
7739 | Original Elephant Painting [4] | 2010.09.30 | Sukjoo#65 | 2010.09.30 | 9438 |
7738 | 세계 명승지 75 [4] | 2010.10.01 | Rover | 2010.10.01 | 8840 |
7737 | Unlisted 세계 명승지 [4] | 2010.10.01 | 운영자 | 2010.10.01 | 29885 |
7736 | [re] A Climb of Chair Mountain [1] | 2010.10.02 | 운영자 | 2010.10.02 | 3812 |
7735 | [Autumn in Colorado] McClure Pass, South [3] | 2010.10.02 | 운영자 | 2010.10.02 | 8938 |
7734 | ? A New Threat [5] | 2010.10.02 | 이한중*65 | 2010.10.02 | 3480 |
7733 | 가을엔 어머니 생각 [6] | 2010.10.02 | Rover | 2010.10.02 | 8349 |
» | No Laptop on Thighs [2] | 2010.10.04 | Rover | 2010.10.04 | 8702 |
7731 | Nobel Prize For Medicine [1] | 2010.10.04 | 이한중*65 | 2010.10.04 | 3677 |
7730 | Daylight Thievery !! [9] | 2010.10.04 | 운영자 | 2010.10.04 | 8123 |
7729 | [re] Universe in High Definition Movie [2] | 2010.10.08 | 운영자 | 2010.10.08 | 9307 |
7728 | Earth amazing sites [3] | 2010.10.07 | 계기식*72 | 2010.10.07 | 9901 |
7727 | 월드 체인저 [3] | 2010.10.07 | 계기식*72 | 2010.10.07 | 8924 |
7726 | Chinese Dissident Liu Wins Nobel Peace Prize [9] | 2010.10.08 | 이한중*65 | 2010.10.08 | 2943 |
7725 | 원래 한글은 이렇게 어렵지 않았다 / 김진규 [6] | 2010.10.08 | 운영자 | 2010.10.08 | 7943 |
7724 | The show, "O" by Cirque Soleil [4] | 2010.10.09 | Rover | 2010.10.09 | 9216 |
I always felt my thighs got very warm.
But I am too far gone "over the hill" to worry about this sort of thing.
Younger people should be careful on this though.