Believe It Or Not: Smartphone Leads To Head Lice In Teenagers!

Using smartphones have a lot of health implications, we all knew that. From weakening our eyesight to wreaking havoc on our sleep-wake schedule, smartphones are behind some of the worst health problems that human beings suffer from. 

However, if you thought that was it, then you’re hugely mistaken. In shocking developments, a study conducted by Oxford University has found that smartphones can also give you head lice.

Yes! The study says that smartphones can cause head lice, especially in school children. It is because they encourage kids to gather around in groups that the bug can jump from one person to another person’s head.

(Image Courtesy: Khoobsurati.com)

The study was conducted on 202 school children, and the results that it produced were staggering. 98 children in the group did not own a smartphone, and 29% of them experienced head lice. On the other hand, the children who did have a smartphone reportedly showed a massive increase in head lice. 5% of the children who owned a smartphone also suffered from having head lice. The results if you see are quite stark and tell us clearly that using smartphones increased the tendency of having head lice.

Many people believed that taking a lot of selfies was the major reason behind causing head lice. However, the study has put that argument to the rest. While taking selfies and hundreds of them might have some other health implications, they don’t contribute to causing head lice. It is generally because smartphones urge children to gather in groups and peek into each other’s phones that cause head lice and also helps in spreading it from one person to another.

However, just like standing and peeking into cell phones can cause head lice, taking group selfies can have the same effects too. Unlike individual selfies, ‘groupfies’ have a lot of people in them, and the scenario becomes very similar to the one that causes head lice among children. A study conducted by the University of Wisconsin carried out a similar test, and the results that they found were in complete affirmation to this cause. Group selfies can also contribute in causing head lice.

The team behind the study at the University of Oxford said that they were themselves baffled upon looking at the results. They said that the outcome was well beyond their expectations and that is a huge cause of concern for these scientists. The same study also concluded that children who possessed smartphones or tablets were more likely to get head lice. Though there might be some other reasons, the fact that smartphones remain common among all these youngsters makes it up for a solid case.

Head lice are a pain to deal with for both the children that have them and for their parents. They have a very adverse impact on one’s hair and health in general. Contrary to popular belief, they transfer between two people only via physical contact- they can’t jump, swim or fly. They also don’t get transferred by combs or by sharing hats. In these circumstances, it looks very likely that joining heads is the only real reason of their propagation. So, smartphones might or might not be the prime reason behind the spreading of head lice, but they sure are one of the factors in the list.

(Image Courtesy: Directmutuelle.com)

Besides, smartphone usage is just wrong, especially for kids and we shouldn’t wait for children to get the unhealthy effects of it. There needs to be a moderation in the way young people use smartphones, and that should be followed strictly. It is perhaps only then that we could use smartphones as something that only helps us, rather than something that slowly kills us. Tell us if you believe this research in the comments below.

(Featured Image Courtesy: Net Doctor)