As I mentioned in my both of my previous posts about the hazards of laptops-on-laps, laptops have been reported to cause "toasted skin syndrome", also known as erythema ab igne or "redness by fire."

To counter this threat, I have found a few obvious solutions. First of all, ensure that the vents on your laptops are clean and able to receive and exhaust air. Therefore, do not block the vents by placing the laptop on pillows, or fuzzy blankets; instead work with the laptop on a desk, or other hard surface like a book. Though, it is probably best to invest in a cooling pad in the near future. Secondly, DO NOT use it as a laptop. I cannot stress that enough. Lastly, if you’re not using the laptop, turn it off. By doing this simple task, it will help preserve your battery and keep it from overheating. Also, a laptop can still overheat even in sleep mode.

All in all, laptops are not true to their name in being placed on the lap. Laptops can cause "toasted skin syndrome", also known as erythema ab igne or "redness by fire." It is generally harmless but can cause permanent skin darkening. In very rare occasions, it can cause damage leading to skin cancers. Also, men who used laptops on their laps had elevated scrotum temperatures. In fact, hot laptops have been found to increase the temperature of scrotums up to 35 degrees above the normal body temperature of 98.6 degrees. If prolonged, that kind of heat can decrease sperm production, which can potentially lead to male infertility.

In other words, let's keep our laptops off of our laptops from now on!

Laptops: Not Good For Laps?

As I mentioned in my previous post about this informative subject, laptops have been reported to cause "toasted skin syndrome", also known as erythema ab igne or "redness by fire."

This condition can also be caused by the overuse of heating pads and other heat sources that usually aren't hot enough to cause burns. It is generally harmless but can cause permanent skin darkening. Still, in very rare occasions, it can cause damage leading to skin cancers, as said by Swiss researchers from the University Hospital of Basel. Also, Dr. Anthony J. Mancini, dermatology chief at Children's Memorial Hospital in Chicago, noted that chronic, prolonged skin inflammation can potentially increase chances for squamous cell skin cancer, which is more aggressive than the most common skin cancer.

In this post, I'd like to mention the effects of laptops on the male reproduction system. A medical report several years ago from researchers at the State University of New York at Stony Brook found that men who used laptops on their laps had elevated scrotum temperatures. In fact, hot laptops have been found to increase the temperature of scrotums up to 35 degrees above the normal body temperature of 98.6 degrees. If prolonged, that kind of heat can decrease sperm production, which can potentially lead to male infertility.

Also, I'd like to mention the fact that a warning is printed in the user manuals of the major laptop manufacturers. These manufacturers include Apple, Hewelett Packard (also known as hp), and Dell, and all of the companies supposedly have a warning that appears in their user manuals against the habit of placing laptops on their laps or exposed skin for extended periods of time because of the risk of burns.

The signs are obvious and, with the increase in the use of laptops recently, the potential for laptops to further increase our risk of cancer in the future is rather eminent. Also, the major manufacturers have made provisions to cover theirbacksides on this issue, therefore, I hope all of you will invest in "lap desk" for your laptop or just choose a regular desk to work on, but, if you don't, you might be paying for cancer treatment in the near future! Or, at least, you might have a permanent discoloration in your skin.

Laptops: Not Good For Laps?

Have you ever sat your laptop in your lap to work on a project for hours at a time, and you feel it heating up your legs? Well, I suggest you rethink that habit.


ABC News reported on Tuesday, October 5th, a young woman's encounter with "toasted skin syndrome", also known as erythema ab igne. The woman, 24-year-old, Kristin Manigault, said, "It started looking really funny. Then I kind of overlooked it. It started to spread and of course that made me really nervous."

A second case emerged on Yahoo News, where a 12-year-old boy developed a sponge-patterened discoloration on his left thigh after playing computer games a few hours every day for several months was reported in an article in the journal, Pediatrics, by Swiss researchers. UPI also reports that these researchers at the University Hospital Basel in Switzerland say that laptop-induced dermatosis, whcih was first described in 2004, can lead to permanent darkening of the skin and, sometimes, skin cancer.

Yet another case is reported in Yahoo News involved a Virginia law student who needed treatment for the mottled discoloration on her leg. The doctor who treated her, Dr. Kimberly Salkey, was perplexed until she discovered that the student spent about six hours a day working with her laptop on her lap. Its temperature underneath was 125 degrees. This cause was reported in 2007, and is one of the 10 laptop-related cases reported in medical journals in the past six years. As UPI includes, the 10 patients, as published in the journal Pediatrics, had lesions on one or both of their upper legs.

Therefore, unless you're unclear on this subject, please do not work with your laptop on your laps, students. At least, not for extended periods of times because it can cause damaging effects to your skin. So, now that fall is upon us, cover up and stay warm, but not with your laptops!

Are Pro Athletes on Steroids still Role Models?

Every child has a hero or wants to look up to someone.Not every child wants to be disappointed by their hero.I'm a huge sports fan, softball being my number one sport. I love softball because I love baseball but after my role model [Mark McGwire] was accused of doing steroids I stopped watching baseball. All athletes want their fans to look up to them. With McGwire, he started hitting so many homeruns which made me want to be a better player. After Mcguire Confessed to using steroids for many years he immediately lost my support as a fan. http://espn.go.com/video/clip?id=4816921 If I could look past his mistake of doing the drugs, maybe he would still be my role model. The only conflict is that he put his life in danger when he decided to do those drugs. I wondered did he know that he could have liver damage from taking steroids. http://www.isteroids.com/steroids/Effects%20of%20Steroids.html Did he understand that steroids can cause psychological effects. http://www.steroidabuse.com/steroid-statistics.html What message was he truely sending to his fans? What if some of his fans started to do steroids because he was? He was no longer a positive influence for my life. Although I continued to play softball for the passion I had left, McGwire was no longer my hero.