Radiocystitis
Sir: I have just recovered from a very new disease. They have a splendid new name for it. They call it "radiocystitis." It consists of a copious and alarming haemorrhage from the bladder, and it is caused, of all things, by sitting too close to a colour television set.
I must admit that I scoffed at this explanation when first I heard of it. So did my GP. So did the Harley Street urologist we consulted. However, an electronics expert who was brought into the discussion said, "Oh yes. How far away do you sit?" I told him it was like reading a book. I said I had heard rumours that an emitron tube presumably emitted radiation, and that since there were three, one for each primary colour, there would presumably be three times the radiation from a black-and-white set.
He said, "No, it's not that. They work at extremely high voltages 15,000 or even 16,000 volts, and they give off X-rays. Even, if it's an instantaneous set, when it's switched off. The transformers are always working." So there we are. Radiocystitis. It means that you can be sitting in an armchair beside a silent set, reading your copy of The Spectator and submitting yourself to measurable doses of X-ravs. I must reveal, at this point, that I am rather a special case, always teetering on the edge of over-radiation from a course I was given three years ago which subjected me to the maximum number of "rads." The short term cure is stuff called Cetiprin, and the long term is to operate the "Varies inversely with the square of the distance" formula and sit at least ten feet away from the set.
Special cases or not, it does seem to me that this whole thing is so serious that the public should be informed, even to the extent of some sort of notice on the set. "It is dangerous to sit nearer than ten feet from this set." And "When not in use, switch off at the wall."
Anthony Gibbs Spurfold House, Peaslake, Surrey
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