How The Screen Time Rise Is Impacting Children's Brain Development?

Is there any link between cell phones and brain tumours?

World Brain Tumour Day 2022: The brain is surrounded by a thick bone called the skull that protects it. So, if any tumour grows in the brain, it adds to the limited space present in the head, and as it grows, it increases the pressure in the brain, which causes symptoms the brain tumour is not a preventable condition. However, if one has symptoms like persistent headaches, fatigue, or vision disturbance, one should not ignore them and get checked up by the doctor. 30-40% of brain tumours are non-cancerous, but irrespective of their nature, all of them create pressure inside the brain. Therefore today, on World Brain Tumour Day, Thehealthsite's editorial team got in touch with Dr V. P. Singh, Chairman, Institute of Neurosciences, Medanta Hospital, Gurugram,to know how the rise in screen time can impact children's brain development.

There's a rise in screen time among children during a pandemic. Will that impact their brain development?

I agree that people in the pandemic were using their devices more, and they were very inactive and were following a very sedentary lifestyle. Therefore, the pandemic resulted in a psychosocial issue due to lack of interaction, lack of social integration, etc. does make an impact on the psyche of the child and brain development, which is not directly related to exposure to devices.

1. Additionally, changes in the social structure led to the cut down of activities where children especially actively play/meet with their friends, be active, and spend energy.
2. Also, people and children were exposed to the devices for a long time during the pandemic, decreasing other physical activities.
3. However, such incidences have not caused any permanent defects and structural damage to the brain but have led to psychological and Behavioural issues.

When Can Brain Tumours Occur?

The brain tumour can occur at any age; even young children can suffer from the same, but it is rare. Most of the tumours are in the middle to elderly age group. Two brain tumours are primary in the brain and occur in the age group of 40-60 most commonly and rarely in children 14-15 years. There are certain types of tumours somewhere else in the body, and they have spread to the brain, called secondary brain tumours. Such tumours usually occur in 60-70 years of age.

How Can We Detect Tumours?

We can now detect tumours more effectively because of the advanced diagnostic facilities. People are becoming aware of the symptoms, and they seek medical attention so that we can see the cases at an earlier stage. Rather than the common tumour cases, we are observing increasing cases because of public awareness and the availability of facilities like CT scans and MRIs.

• Even tier 2 cities are now equipped with MRI and CT scans, and if someone has a persistent headache and other symptoms, they consult the doctor, which is a positive sign.
• Hence, there's an increase in the number of earlier cases that went unnoticed and were only diagnosed at an advanced stage with large tumours because of a lack of awareness and resources to detect and treat them.
• We treat 30-40% of the cases with brain tumour surgery in a year, and most of them are treated rightly with the advanced treatment now available.