The habit of staying up late using a phone left an 18-year-old paralyzed on one side due to a brain stroke.
Recently, an 18-year-old young man in Guangzhou (China) nearly lost his life and now faces permanent disability after suffering a stroke following a night of staying up late on his phone.

It is reported that this young man had the habit of sleeping late, often playing games on his phone and scrolling social media until very late at night, sometimes even staying up until morning. A few days ago, right after waking up and getting out of bed, he almost fell because his right leg suddenly felt unusually weak.

Thinking it was just because he hadn’t fully woken up, he tried to take another step, only to realize that his right leg had almost no strength left. At the same time, his right arm also began to feel the same way. Terrified, he tried to shout for his parents, but suddenly his mouth stiffened, and the sounds that came out were slurred, like a drowning person.

Fortunately, just a few minutes later, his father found him and immediately called an ambulance. Diagnosis results showed that he had suffered a cerebral stroke caused by a blood clot in the left cerebral artery. After many hours of effort by the medical team, the blood clot was removed, and his life was saved, but his lower body remained paralyzed.

According to the Center for Disease Control, about 90% of the stroke burden is due to modifiable risk factors, with about 75% linked to behavioral factors such as smoking, poor diet, and lack of physical activity. For young, healthy people with a healthy lifestyle, stroke would not occur without risk factors.

Hidden dangers of frequent nighttime phone use

According to health experts cited by Boldsky, the period between 11 p.m. and 4 a.m. is the most dangerous time to use a phone.

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1. Poor sleep quality

Using the phone before bed keeps the brain’s nerves in a state of excitement, making it difficult to fall asleep. This affects work and study the next day because the brain cannot concentrate properly, memory declines, and sleep quality worsens, leading to a series of health problems.

2. Back and neck pain

Most people who use their phones before bed like to play while lying with their heads propped up or lying sideways, which causes significant strain on the cervical and lumbar spine. Keeping these areas under tension for a long time leads to fatigue, resulting in neck and back pain.

3. Declining eyesight

Many people turn off the lights and play on their phones in bed. Using the phone in the dark causes the eyes to feel dry and uncomfortable. Prolonged screen focus reduces blinking frequency, which prevents tears from spreading evenly across the eye surface, leading to dryness and dry eye syndrome. Long-term phone use can also cause vision decline and nearsightedness.

4. Weakened immune system

Spending long periods playing on the phone before sleep disrupts proper rest, leading to poor sleep quality. This disturbs the body’s internal regulation, reduces immunity, and weakens the body’s resistance to illness, making one more vulnerable to diseases compared to others.