Smartphone scrolling on the toilet could increase risk of haemorrhoids

It may be a good idea to leave your phone outside of the bathroomEkaterina Demidova Do you use your smartphone while you sit on the toilet? If so, you are probably spending longer there than you would do otherwise and that could be increasing your risk of haemorrhoids by nearly 50 per cent. Us gastroenterologists, we always tell our patients, dont spend too much time on the toilet, says Trisha Pasricha at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston, Massachusetts. But when I went into the literature, I found that the data backing this advice is pretty scant. Read moreWhy constipation isnt just painful, but can lead to serious disease Advertisement Pasricha and her colleagues have now done their own study, where they asked 125 people who were scheduled to have colonoscopies to fill out questionnaires about their toilet habits, general health and physical activities. Images from the colonoscopies were then reviewed to determine if they had haemorrhoids, also known as piles, which are lumps inside or around your bottom. Theyre actually very difficult for people to diagnose on their own, says Pasricha. Sometimes theyre internal, so you cant feel them. Sometimes what youre feeling externally are not actually haemorrhoids. *Reporting by Newscientist.*