Technology: A Health Blessing or a Curse?

It is no surprise that the turn of the 21^stcentury has witnessed great advancements in technology and practically in all industries that make our world such a complicated and multifaceted global village. Today we hear of not only smart phones but smart homes too, the beauty of automated machineries and also cars that do the driving for you, of banking done on the click of a button, practically we do not have to leave our houses for work or any other reason unless it’s an emergency, life and death situations, say you are a doctor or firefighter. We opt to order for pizza over going out to a lovely restaurant or even following a simple recipe on a cooking website.

Indeed it’s a mad world out there, most are heard as saying that they embrace technology as it tends to prevent people from living in the moment. The surprise being that to most of us technology is just a necessary evil. When we choose to text friends and family over actually visiting them and spending quality time. We now prefer online speed dating as opposed to taking time to learn a person's personality and actually build slid relationships. We’d rather do without the campus experience and just do online learning as it's so easy and oh so convenient so we juggle work life, our homes and three or more master's degrees in our attempt to "have it all" and be successful, trend setters.

With more and more social networks cropping up so that we are no longer limited to the traditional Facebook, What's app only, youths are at a risk of having "weak" socializing skills as they bond more with website links, instant chatting and other cool apps and forfeit actual physical connections with others. So we have kids so glued to cable TV, hooked to video games and never have to go and play outside as parents simply join in the fun.

Wearable technology courtesy of Nabu wristband allows for streaming of all notifications to one's wrist! Mini-Liang Tan, the CEO of Nabu, in an interview with CNN's Richard Quest coins the core of innovation as "simplicity and functionality". The wristband is essential to any person, informs one of their flight schedules, and aids a financial analyst to get instant updates on the stock market trends and basically any one in need of an update.

In the wake of automated cars, Volvo cars in Sweden prove that people do not even have to speak to each other anymore, cars do the talking for them. Fitted with wireless signals, cars can detect pedestrians, monitor traffic and warn others cars on road situations thus said to reduce accidents usually associated by human error and misjudgments.

All this tends to get scarier as technology remains a volatile field that keeps taking different shapes and make people keep up with what's new and what's efficient and makes their lives "easier". Indeed technology has made life manageable, saving time and enabling all of us handle a zillion responsibilities and really do it all.

But what does this mean in terms of health? Technology has improved the arena of diagnostics, is behind almost all ground breaking research and has generally improved the quality of health care services and its provision and access. E-health has paved way to a wide range of health information and access to health services and basically connected all people around the world.

However, what can be said of people exercising less because they'd rather watch movies all weekend; almost puncture their eardrums because of loud music when using earphones; constantly being in front of a computer screen till they are forced to make that visit to the ophthalmologist for an eye checkup; slowly slide to the world of bariatrics because of all the fast foods they order instead of making their own healthy meals; kids that grow up with communication issues because they spent all their childhood cooped up in their rooms; stress that comes with the constant drive to be in the frontline in embracing and using the latest technology that offers a solution to everyday problems.

Most of us have unknowingly allowed technology to run our lives instead of the other way round. We now work like clockwork; sleeping less thanks to the home being the "new office"; constantly being kept alert by alarms and reminders! We no longer even need actual assistants, we now have PDAs, personal digital assistants that just plans and do it all for us. We are indeed on a roll!

Technology is not a bad thing, it is indeed necessary but it is important that we salvage the little that is left of us so that we don't get lost in the bombardment of this software and that, that laptop over another under development, this website over another and so forth. In all the multitasking that new range tablets offer, let's not forget to at least take a moment and pause and just enjoy the magic of everyday living.