Put Down the Phone! Camera Flashes on Selfies May Cause Epileptic Seizures

Put down the phone! Camera flashes on selfies may cause epileptic seizures, study claims
A teenage girl had seizure-like spikes in her brain activity after taking a selfie

by Cheyenne Roundtree for Dailymail.com,

14 June 2017

(Photo):  A Canadian teenage girl (file photo) had seizure-like spikes in her brain activity after taking a selfie. Doctors called the phenomenon 'selfie-epilepsy' and said it may cause seizures for people who have photosensitivity epilepsy

• A teenage girl had seizure-like spikes in her brain activity after taking a selfie
• Doctors determined she had a photosensitivity response to these photos
• They called the phenomenon 'selfie-epilepsy' and said it may cause seizures
• In the past, experts claimed selfies can cause wrinkles and self-image issues

The act of taking a selfie has become as commonplace as taking a regular photo.

However, experts are warning that the seemingly innocent practice can cause epileptic seizures responses for some.

In one case, a selfie-taking teen had seizure-like spikes in her brain activity after snapping a bright photo of herself.

Canadian doctors determined she likely had a photosensitivity response to these types of photos and this could be a contributing factor to her seizures.

The recent case study determined that those with photosensitive epilepsy can have seizures caused by the bright flash, and called the phenomenon 'selfie-epilepsy'.

This is the latest allegation against selfies. In the past, experts said the act could cause wrinkles due to the phone's radiation and self-image issues.

The report was put together by pediatric doctors at Dalhousie University in Canada and published in the medical journal Seizure.

The medical experts observed the teenager's brain spikes while they were monitoring her to gather information about what was causing her seizures.

The girl was being recorded in a lab setting and was hooked up to an electroencephalogram, or EEG.

Doctors noticed that while she was in the dark room she took a selfie, with the flash and the pulsing flashes of red-eye reduction, which caused the unusual spikes in her brainwaves.

These seizure-like spikes helped the doctors diagnose the girl with a photosensitivity response to selfies.

Continue reading:
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-4603828/Camera-flashes-selfies-cause-epileptic-seizures.html

Study (abstract):

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/28273589