Phones are great, but they’re also little cells

Our transformation into device people has happened with unprecedented suddenness. It almost looks unbelievable that the touchscreen-operated iPhones went on sale in June 2007, followed by the first Android-powered phones the following year.

In nine short years, our lives have become so dependent on the phone that one cannot imagine a life without it.

Our phones are with us all the time. They keep us in touch with loved ones, colleagues at work, and with those in our social circles. They record important moments of our lives.

They offer easy access to the depths of human knowledge and the delights of our creativity. They entertain us when we are bored, guide us when we are lost, keep us company when we are lonely... and much more.

Smartphones are enormously useful, but sometimes their allure can prove too strong. We feel compelled to respond to them, even if it means ignoring the people we are with.

They wake us in the night, interrupting our sleep. We feel anxious when they are not there. They interrupt our work and our play. We spend tidy amounts to keep them beeping.

It is not lost on Kenyans that some mobile phone users incur considerable debt, and that phones are being used to intimidate and harass other people. Some crooks use cellphones to extort money.

In particular, there is increasing evidence that mobile phones are being used to bully and cajole.

For most people, smartphones are wonderful devices that fulfil multiple roles. They can make our lives easier, like good technology should. Some of us use smartphones more than we realise, and others are using them more than they should.

At what point does someone cross the line — from normal use to phone addiction?

Phone addiction has been described as a “preoccupation” with mobile communication, excessive use of money or time on mobile phones, and use of phones in socially or physically inappropriate situations such as while driving a vehicle.

Increased use can also have adverse effects on relationships, and can cause anxiety if one is separated from a mobile phone or sufficient signal.

SUBSTANCE ABUSE

The World Health Organisation has categorised phone addiction at the same level as substance abuse — psychoactive drugs, alcohol and tobacco, and behavioural addiction.

There also other risks associated with this close relationship with phones. Considering the number of times people interact with their cellphones under different circumstances, germs are likely to transfer from one place to another.

Research by the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine at Queen Mary in 2011 indicated that one in six cell phones is contaminated with faecal matter.

On further inspection, some phones with faecal matter also harboured lethal bacteria such as E. coli, which can result in fever, vomiting, and diarrhoea.

This can be very disturbing, especially because many parents and nannies use cellphones to coo and entertain babies — and babies by nature put anything they hold into their mouths.

Cancer, specifically brain cancer, and its correlation with phone use, is an ongoing investigation. Many variables affect the likelihood of hosting cancerous cells — including duration and frequency of phone use.

No definitive evidence has linked cancer to moderate phone use, but the International Agency for Research on Cancer, of the World Health Organisation, said in 2011 that radio frequency is a possible human carcinogen, based on heavy usage increasing the risk of developing glioma tumours.

These are rare and benign cancers, but can progressively become dangerous.

Wambugu is an informatics specialist. [email protected] @samwambugu2