BMJ: Nintendo systems cause health issues...

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The famed well respected British Medical Journal has conducted a study regarding Nintendo's systems on human heath.

This study runs from NES to current, includes handhelds and motion controls.

People have reported:

*Seizures called Nintendo epilepsy
*Fecal soiling
*Daytime enuresis
*Neck pain aka Nintendo neck
*Nintendo elbow
*Nintendo hallucinations
*Tendiniti aka nintendinitis
*Ulcerative nintendinitis
*Wiitis (can affect any part of the body)
*Wii knee
*Other document health issues

Some have been life threatening.

Have you ever experienced a health issue playing a Nintendo system?
http://www.bmj.com/content/349/bmj.g7267

I dont know what some of those are, and... I'm getting the idea that I'm better off not knowing.

Anyway though, the one I ran into with their stuff was with the Wii. All the arm motion with the Wiimote.... I cant do it. I have tendon/joint/nerve issues, more nerve than the other 2, that go along neck/shoulder/arm, nothing at all serious, I go to physical therapy to work on it, but some things can set it off easily, and that's one of them. Which, at the time when I had a Wii, made some games nearly unplayable. The problem may not be serious, but the level of pain it causes when it flares up is.... not any fun at all. Normal pain pills dont work on that, so I'm on cyclobenzaprine (taken constantly) and Tramadol (only when I think I really need it) for that.

Other than that.... nothing really. I mean, there's always the typical potential for wrist or hand pain from playing a game a bit too long, but that's par for the course when too much gaming is done, really.

I'm an epileptic myself, and I have had seizures...but I don't recall any being triggered by flashing lights or video games.

When I got my first Game Boy Color in middle school, I strained my neck really bad trying to figure out a good position for light vs. glare. Never had an issue since, and strangely, never had any issues when I used Game Boys that my cousins owned.

I read the article. The problem is that none of those issues are directly related to Nintendo, but the lack of common sense used in the cases reported while there was a Nintendo platform present.

All of the wii injuries were nothing that wouldn't happen during normal exercise outside the incident of the kid who hit himself in the eye with the wii remote... and he probably would have blinded himself the next time he tried to eat a banana anyway.

The only serious thing I'd ever heard of(that I've never been sure of the validity of it's claim), was the video game induced seizures, due to seizure warnings that have been present for so long on game packaging and whatnot. If they can happen, I imagine they aren't a Nintendo exclusive. The old Atari consoles have far more for flashing games that make ammo for jesting about seizure induction than Nintendo, and the seizure warnings have bled into every platform after regardless of manufacturer.

Claims of tendonitis... Just about anything that requires activity out of your hands can cause that, if they're either out of shape, or you're asking too much endurance out of them. My mother has gotten it in the past as a seamstress. I've nearly gotten it quite a few times as a guitarist, but know when to stop playing and monitor the pain until it seems safe to return back to my practice schedule. The slender workings in the hands, are not the type to tolerate a "no pain = no gain" mindset. Again, it's just another case of an injury one would be at risk of during regular exercise.

The bias of the article is also a bit strong in simply focusing on Ninetendo. If Nintendo has said safety issues, so will anything made by Sony or Microsoft. I have a two player set of Move controllers for PS3(mostly use them as modern light-gun replacements... or more specifically, for dual wielding in the few available HotD games), and it's not like Sony hasn't been totally obnoxious with the in game Move controller warnings not to hit people or solid owy-inducing objects by swinging your arms around like an absolute fool while playing with them and whatnot... because if they didn't, some dope would probably find a way to blow their arms off while playing and file a lawsuit.

When I used to play Mario Party 1 I got bad blisters and open sores on my hands from all the Rotate-the-Control-Stick games. They even had a thing where you test how fast you can do it. Nintendo got sued from it and lost. You could say I got Blister Party 64.
Other than that I haven't had any health problems with Nintendo games.

I remember getting Nintendo neck a lot after playing handhelds.

Well let's see....I've had:

Suicidal thoughts due to aggravating bullcrap ( mainly the challenges in Smash Bros )

Nintendo Thumb ( back in the 80's, when I was a kid... )

"WTF Nintendo" syndrome ( asking "WTF Nintendo" regarding motion controls, touch only controls for DS Zeldas, certain gameplay elements, 3DS never accepting good lighting as such, not localizing certain games, Amiibo availability etc )

Overhype exhaustion ( getting so hyped for a game you feel exhausted )

Real lucky I never got Mario Party Palm......

I have epilepsy and haven't had a seizure while playing any sort of video game and lemme tell ya...I love Nintendo.

I have pain in both my thumbs and index (pointer) fingers... Thing is though, my Sega caused just as much of that as the Nintendo... I did get an electric shock off my Wii once though! Actually come to think of it, I had a seizure while playing a game on... the Sega... I think the Sega Mega drive is trying to kill me...

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I have HFA, ADHD, OCD & Tourette syndrome. I love animals, especially my bunnies and hamster. I skate in a roller derby team (but I'll try not to bite )

I've had stiff neck when playing DS/3DS, usually while trying it in a store.

I've felt sick from using the 3DS function on the 3DS. Needless to say, I don't use it anymore and plus it makes a lot of games seem a lot less fluid and more slow moving.

The only other thing in games is sometimes I get visually overwhelmed and sensory overloaded when there is a lot going on screen at once. This doesn't only apply to Nintendo stuff, but games in general. It's gotten worse as I get older I find. I noticed this while trying to raids in Warcraft that normally I would find easy years ago seemed very hard a few months ago.