Playing videogames can have positive effects on children's health, researchers have found, as a form of physiotherapy and as a tool for cognitive distraction.

University professor Mark Griffiths claims in this month's British Medical Journal that computer games can be used as a powerful form of distraction, giving major benefits for younger patients undergoing painful cancer treatment.

He also argues that games can be used as a type of physiotherapy, to help to develop social skills among children with attention disorders, including autism.

Mr. Griffiths, professor of gambling studies at Nottingham Trent University, says more research must now be done into both the positive and negative effects of gaming.

"Video gaming is safe for most players and can be useful in healthcare," he says in the BMJ article. Although playing video games is one of the most popular leisure activities in the world, research into its effects on players, both positive and negative, is often trivialized. Some of this research deserves to be taken seriously, not least because video game playing has implications for health."

Prof. Griffiths refers to examples of where video games have been used to help to treat specific physical conditions, including an eight-year-old boy whose illness caused him to pick his lip, causing scarring.

Previous treatments had failed, so the boy was given a handheld video game to keep his hands occupied. Two weeks later the affected area had healed. Research has also shown, Mr. Griffiths claims, that computer games can provide "cognitive distraction" among patients undergoing chemotherapy and treatment for sickle cell disease.

He said: "All these studies reported that distracted patients had less nausea and lower systolic blood pressure than controls who were simply asked to rest after treatment, and needed fewer analgesics."

Potentially Harmful Side Effects

Computer games have even been used as a form of physiotherapy for arm injuries, Mr. Griffiths claims, including the case of a 13-year- old boy who suffered with Erb's palsy, and for people with spinal injuries.

The BMJ article does, however, acknowledge ongoing research into the potentially harmful side effects of video games, particularly among young boys.

A study found that violent images on television and in computer games can increase aggressive behavior in young children. Scientists at the University of Birmingham found that violent imagery in the media had a "substantial" short-term effect on children's arousal, thoughts and emotions.

They found consistent evidence that young children who watched television and films, and played video games showed more aggressive play and behavior.