We posted about blogging and health back in January when tech blogger Om Malik suffered a heart attack which some thought may have been caused by his blogging habits.
Now it’s back in the news with a New York Times article - In Web World of 24/7 Stress, Writers Blog Till They Drop - questioning once again whether blogging is bad for your health….
Two weeks ago in North Lauderdale, Fla., funeral services were held for Russell Shaw, a prolific blogger on technology subjects who died at 60 of a heart attack. In December, another tech blogger, Marc Orchant, died at 50 of a massive coronary. A third, Om Malik, 41, survived a heart attack in December.
Other bloggers complain of weight loss or gain, sleep disorders, exhaustion and other maladies born of the nonstop strain of producing for a news and information cycle that is as always-on as the Internet.
The reaction to this article from professional bloggers was immediate.
Larry Dignan from ZDNET, who turned down the opportunity to be interviewed for the NYT article, wrote…
Let’s put a little perspective on this blogging thing. You could be getting shot at in Iraq. You could be a single mom working three jobs to stay afloat (Happy Birthday mom). You could work in a coal mine. You could be in a life and death battle with Leukemia. You could be doing any one of thousands of high-stress jobs. Sure, the Web has a lot of stress but let’s get real: If you’re stressed out over 5,000 RSS feeds chances are good you’d be stressed by any profession you chose.
The point I was trying to make was that nothing (certainly the deaths of Russell and Marc Orchant and Om’s heart attack) exist in a vacuum. You have to take care of yourself.
But prehaps the best response was from Om Malik…
It is suffice to say, the problems in my case were brought on by a combination of factors including the 24/7 lifestyle, bad health choices and yes, a desire to do everything. My doctors told me that if you are going to spend inordinate amount of time in front of a computer screen at night, you might have tough time going to sleep. The screen-flicker makes your eyes and your mind think it is day time, hence you have trouble sleeping.
If you drink too much coffee, you are going to have trouble sleeping. If you don’t sleep your heart works longer hours and has to pump more blood and is under stress. Problems get compounded when you are a smoker, are overweigh, lead a sedentary life (phone/computer) and/or are on a plane constantly.
As Malik’s post title suggestions, the best way for bloggers to look after their health is to Relax, Chill and maybe Blog.
译文:
警告：写博客可能会对你健康有害
一月份的时候我们发表过一篇文章“写博客与健康问题”，说一个科技博客博主Om Malik心脏病发可能是由于他写博客的习惯造成的。
现在再回头看看《纽约时报》的文章——“网络世界里压力重重，作者写博笔耕不辍”——再一次质疑写博客是否会对健康有害：
两周前在佛罗里达北罗德岱堡举行了Russell Shaw的葬礼，这个多产的科技博客博主死于心脏病，享年60岁。十二月，又一个科技博客博主Marc Orchant死于心脏病突发，年仅50岁。而第三例，Om Malik才41岁，十二月的时候心脏病发，不过幸免于难。
其他的博客写手们也抱怨由于无休止的新闻写作，转贴资讯和长时间的在线都导致了他们体重失调，失眠，乏力还有其他疾病。
一个专业博客博主立即做出了反应。
Ziff-Davis出版公司的Larry Dignan，拒绝了《纽约时报》的采访，写道：
在写博客这件事上，我们不妨把眼光放得远一点。你可能会在伊拉克中枪；你可能会是一个单身妈妈为了生存在做着三份工作（妈妈生日快乐！）；你可能会在煤矿工作；你可能会在与白血病魔做抗争；你可能会在从事数以千记中的一种高压力职业。当然，网络会有很多压力，不过实际一点的看：如果你对超过5000个RSS源都会感到有压力，那估计你从事任何职业都会感到有压力。
我想要说的是，根本什么都没有（当然Russell和Marc Orchant和Om的心脏病是有的）。你得照顾好你自己。
不过也许最佳的回应是来自Om Malik的：
我绝对有资格说，我的问题是多种因素造成的，包括不眠不休的工作方式，不健康的生活习惯，是的，还有什么都想干的渴望。我的医生跟我说，如果我夜晚在电脑面前坐太长时间的话，那我可能就很难入睡了。屏幕的闪光使我的眼睛和我的大脑都认为是在白天，因此我睡眠很糟糕。
如果你喝太多咖啡，你也会很难入睡。如果你不睡觉，你的心脏就会工作更长的时间，压入更多的血液处于压力下。问题是多方面造成的，吸烟，超重，久坐不动（拿着电话或者对着电脑）还有长时间在飞机上。
Malik贴出来的建议是，对于博客写手们关注自身健康最好的方式是放松，休息还有可能就是博客吧。