Chinese woman suffers blood clots in brain after lying down to use phone for 20 hours

A Chinese woman allegedly developed blood clots in her brain after gazing at her phone screen for 20 hours straight.

The woman, a 47-year-old migrant worker was taking a train trip from her hometown in China’s Henan province to the southern city of Guangzhou after the Lunar New Year holidays, reports the New Straits Times and South China Morning Post.

As the train was packed, she could not move around much and maintained largely the same posture for over 20 hours — lying on her right-hand side as she looked at her phone.

After reaching her destination, she proceeded to alight the train but fainted after she got off. 

She was then conveyed to a hospital where a CAT scan revealed blood clots in her brain.

The doctors immediately performed a three-hour-long operation to remove the blood clots and prevent further blockages in her arteries. 

Meng Heng, a neurologist at the First Affiliated Hospital of Jinan University in Guangzhou was quoted saying:

“We took out many blood clots, almost two centimetres in total, which is twice what patients usually have.

“We think she kept the same posture for too long, which compressed the blood vessels on the right side of her neck.”

The woman is said to be in good health and did not have a history of cardiovascular diseases before the incident.

With regard to the incident, Meng said that there is a trend of younger patients suffering blood clots.

He advised smartphone users to adopt a comfortable posture, make sure that they move around frequently, and take long screen breaks.