A report commissioned by the Daily Mail has revealed that pushing a button more than 3 times in impatience may increase the risk of cancer. The button pushing phenomena is often seen at pedestrian crossing and lifts.
The survey followed a group of 30 people over ten years and found that those in the group that habitually and needlessly pushed buttons had a higher cancer rate than those that just pressed then the recommended once. Although not as high, the risk was also increased for those that push a button pushed by someone else.
One of the participants told us 'they had us go to a pedestrian crossing and press the 'wait' button. I pressed it but the lights failed to change immediately. Despite the light coming on there was obviously a fault so I continued pressing the button until on the 16th push, the lights changed. I went to the doctor 5 years later and was diagnosed with cancer. I was so shocked I had one of my 40 cigarettes a day, 10 pints of lager, and sniffed my daily line of asbestos'.
Other areas tested included a lift in a department store. Dr May, who carried out the research explained 'we took the first group, who were coincidently all obese smokers, and got them to call the lift from the 3rd floor down to the ground floor. Most of them kept on pushing the call button until it arrived. The vast majority of them went on to have health problems, including cancer. The second group, who were recruited from the local Gym, had the lift on the level they were on. They only felt the need to push once, and they seem to have led healthy lifestyles since. Conclusive proof that excessive button pushing causes cancer.'
As well as pedestrian crossings and lifts, other areas affected include remote controls with dead batteries, car horns, and the button on a computer mouse when clicking on a website link. But one of those in the affected group has told us they are not sure about the results. Speaking to us from the smoking area, 56 year old Sue Roach said 'David Beckham is one of the healthiest people I know, and he has been pushing my buttons for years'
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