• Mayo Clinic Minute: It’s only temporary – smartphone blindness

A woman is browsing smartphone cell phone at night in bedSmartphone habits may force doctors to ask patients a few more questions when diagnosing vision or neurological problems. “I think if a person experiences a temporary loss of vision in one eye, that’s potentially a very important problem for which they should seek medical attention,” says Dr. Dean Wingerchuk, a Mayo Clinic neurologist. “But it doesn’t always mean there’s an abnormality.”

His recent article in Neurology raises the possibility that handheld gadgets may be to blame. Because of that, he says physicians may need to include smartphone use in their patient history reviews. Here’s Dennis Douda.

Watch: The Mayo Clinic Minute

Journalists: A broadcast-quality video pkg (0:59) is in the downloads. Read the script.