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Health Check: Mobile phones and head injuries

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Man walking using mobile phone

2019/12/11 GMT

Mobile phones and head injuries

BBC World Service - Health Check, Mobile phones and head injuries

Risking head injuries by using a mobile phone on the go

Risking head injuries by using a mobile phone on the go.

Are you reading this on your mobile phone, whilst walking down the street?  One American doctor who treats some of the head and neck injuries sustained by people distracted by their phones wants us to stop using them on the go. He’s seen cuts, broken noses, smashed jaws and even brain damage in patients – injuries which have become much more common since the arrival of smartphones. 

The world’s largest medical gallery has opened at the Science Museum in London. Exhibits include some of the shock tactics used in public health campaigns – to encourage people to have safe sex, stop smoking and get vaccinated against dangerous diseases.  As long ago as the 1950s the power of celebrity was evident when the take-up of the polio vaccine increased following the death of Birmingham and England footballer Jeff Hall. 

There are fears that there might soon be a global shortage of the blood-thinning drug heparin. It’s given to prevent clots during surgery – as well as to some pregnant women and people with cancer. The situation is so bad that the World Health Organisation wants governments to stockpile the medication. We hear how the supply issue originates from a surprising source: pigs.

(Photo credit: Martin Dm/Getty Images.)

Health Check was presented by Claudia Hammond

Producer: Paula McGrath

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