Not Sure I Buy Into All Of This, But I Do Think They Need To Be Banned While Driving...

The Hidden Health Benefits of a Cellphone Ban

What the doctors say.

By Gina Roberts-Grey

 

In December 2011, the National Transportation Safety Board touched off a torrent of kudos and criticism when it recommended that all 50 states and the District of Columbia adopt laws prohibiting texting and talking while driving, including the use of hands-free devices. The move was made in the hopes of saving the more than 3,000 lives lost annually to the two main causes of distracted driving.

While legislators continue to debate the pros and cons of a full-scale ban and drivers discuss the effects of the radical suggestion, doctors are saying that there are a few other benefits — aside from the obvious avoidance of injury or death — to consider. They argue that the move might good for your health.

Driving is a very stressful experience. You’re constantly on the lookout for dangers, and you are responsible for protecting not only your own life, but also the lives of those around you. Because you need to engage a different part of your brain, the one responsible for language and talking, while driving, the stress is heightened — even if you’re having a happy conversation, says Tony Massey, M.D., senior medical director for CIGNA’s behavioral health business.

The added pressure of having to focus on a conversation while paying adequate attention to the road is a potential multitasking nightmare that can set off any one of a host of reactions, like insomnia, heart disease and digestive woes.

Doctors say that anything you can do to reduce your stress, including not texting or talking while driving, will directly benefit your overall health.

Cellphones and your heart

“As you participate in conversations, especially those that you need to react to, you have an increase in heart rate, blood pressure, stress hormones and inflammatory hormones,” says Suzanne Steinbaum, M.D., an attending cardiologist and director of Women and Heart Disease at the Heart and Vascular Institute of Lenox Hill Hospital in New York City.

The added stress of concentrating on that conversation while trying to navigate traffic, especially if you're in a heated discussion or one that requires deep thought, has plenty of heart implications.

Steinbaum says that not only might your blood pressure go up, it could spike to dangerous levels and put you at a greater risk for a heart attack.

“A perfect example of a situation that would increase your heart rate, blood pressure and stress hormones, possibly to the point of having a heart attack, is if you’re talking on the phone and you have to swerve from a potential accident,” says Steinbaum.

Cellphones and your weight

A call to catch up with your college roomie while running errands could make you fat because you’re putting too much stress on yourself.

Massey says the biology is pretty simple: “When you experience stress — even small stress that doesn’t have you actually feeling strung out — chemical changes in your brain occur that shift your body into an 'obtain energy or calories,' mode.” This affects your appetite and makes you less likely to be picky about foods and more likely to scarf down anything available. You also feel hungrier than normal, especially for sweets and fatty foods.”

“Planning down time into every day is really important for maintaining a healthy weight,” says Joyce D. Nash, Ph.D., the author of Lose Weight, Live Healthy: A Complete Guide to Designing Your Own Weight. And that down time could come in the form of silence while driving.

Cellphones and your sleep

If you have trouble falling — or staying — asleep at night, it could be because talking while driving doesn't give your brain ample time for a breather.

The multitasking of talking while driving, especially if you chat in the evening on the way home from work, can increase the time it takes to fall asleep or increase the number of times you wake up at night, says Robert Oexman, a doctor of chiropractic and director of the Sleep to Live Institute.

Oexman says that people who talk on the phone shouldn’t be surprised if it feels like their mind is racing long after their head hits the pillow. “People who are always 'on' will wake up and stay awake longer periods of time.”

Cellphones and your stomach

It’s no surprise that getting all worked up while you’re battling rush hour can tie your stomach in knots. And if you happen to be stuck in traffic while you’re on a heated call, all that irritation could settle in your lower half and increase the odds you’ll have to make a stop to run to the bathroom.

“Stress can alter your bowel habits to the point where you get severe constipation or diarrhea or abdominal pain with the perception of bloating and cramping. Acute episodes of stress or anxiety can lead to acute symptoms of abdominal pain,” says John Pandolfino, M.D., gastroenterologist at Northwestern Memorial Hospital in Chicago.

Talking while driving back to the office after lunch could mess with your ability to digest your food, too. “The resulting stress of talking while driving can cause a surge in hormones that slows digestion because the body is suddenly forced to focus on supplying oxygen and energy to other parts of the body like the brain, heart, etc.” says Dr. Pandolfino. So you’ve got a greater chance of getting an upset stomach if you talk on the way back from grabbing a bite out.

Cellphones and your back

Every now and then, your muscles need a break to repair themselves and stay healthy. That includes the muscles in your face, jaw and neck. David G. Borenstein, M.D., clinical professor of medicine at the Chronic Neck and Back Pain at the George Washington University Medical Center, says never giving the muscles above your shoulders, which you use for talking, a rest can cause a lot of pain. “Muscles that are continuously in motion are getting less oxygen, which results in muscles going into spasm. Those spasms can be extremely painful,” he says.

The result of this muscle tightness is chronic pain that can be intense. “Chronic pain can make it tough to move your neck or back, so turning around to look behind you to park a car can be very difficult,” says Borenstein.

So the chance for your muscles to relax while driving could eliminate a big pain in the neck as well as reduce your risk of getting into an accident.