Using the phone while you poop greatly raises hemorrhoid risk, new study says (www.cnn.com)

submitted 2 days ago by MicroWave@lemmy.world to c/health@lemmy.world

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This new research provides concrete evidence of what many have long suspected: People lose track of time in the bathroom when they have their phones, said Dr. Trisha Pasricha, the study’s senior author, a gastroenterologist at Massachusetts General Hospital and an instructor at Harvard Medical School.

All this scrolling is messing with people’s health.

“The entire business model of these social media apps is to distract us, make us lose track of time and addict us to the algorithm,” Pasricha said. “We’re just now understanding how much smartphones impact lots of other factors in our lives.”

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[-] y0kai@anarchist.nexus 6 points 2 days ago* (last edited 2 days ago)

Books weren't designed to be addictive and make you lose track of time.

Maybe not all books, but a good book is, to me, quite addictive and causes me to lose track of time.

After reading the article though, I'm realizing I'm not a typical bathroom user. I've always had digestive issues unrelated to books and cell phones, so my loo time is much longer than average, it seems. I must be one of those 7%.

[-] Nollij@sopuli.xyz 1 points 1 day ago

I know this is semantics, but I would say a good book is engaging rather than addicting. Many phone apps are specifically designed with addiction in mind, targeting the pleasure centers of your brain to keep you playing/scrolling/etc. But I also acknowledge that this is similar to style guides on keeping the reader interested.

I would describe it as a difference in degree.

[-] y0kai@anarchist.nexus 2 points 1 day ago

That's fair. The more "engaging" something is, the more its effects may mirror that of something "addicting". I'm also thinking about how engagement is a factor of addictive marketing.

The end result though, for me at least, is the same. If I'm engaged in my book, or addicted to my phone, I'm still sitting motionless, staring at a thing, and reading. The difference I suppose is on how hard it is to look away.

I'm glad this is the only social media I really use!

this post was submitted on 04 Sep 2025

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