CELL PHONES AND BRAIN CANCER — IS THERE A LINK?
Welcome to #Wellness Wednesday everyone. Today it’s all about cell phones and their relationship – or their possible relationship – to brain cancer.
To review, back in 2011 the World Health Organization (WHO) announced that cell phones may be human carcinogens similar to lead or engine exhaust. The issue centered on the electromagnetic radiation emitted from mobile cell phones as well as other electrical devices, including computers, televisions and alarm systems.
Typically cell phones – at least those in the United States – operate in a frequency that ranges from about 850 megahertz, or MHX, to about 1900. Now, in this range the radiation produced is known as non-ionizing radiofrequency, or RF energy. Also known as electromagnetic radiation, it’s similar to the energy produced by a microwave oven and is basically considered to be harmless. This is unlike ionizing radiation that is produced by medical x-rays and can produce a health risk in certain doses.
Based on the evidence available in 2011, however, the claim by WHO that cell phones may cause human cancer was essentially dismissed by the scientific community due to lack of hard evidence.
Now, five years later new research from the National Toxicology Program (NTP) reignites this issue. Recent research has shown that electromagnetic radiation appears to be associated with the development of rare cancers that have appeared in the hearts and brains of laboratory rats. It’s difficult to know if the results would be the same in humans, but the possibility does exist. And, the question of whether cell phones are linked to human brain cancer and glioblastomas in particular just keeps resurfacing.
And should that possibility become a probability, millions of people would be affected as more than 90 percent of American adults alone use cell phones. Furthermore, we don’t really know a lot about their safety. This is because the current guidelines are based on electromagnetic injury from sudden, acute thermal exposure. For example, we know that a microwave oven can heat living tissue to the point of biological damage. In contrast, the guidelines are not based upon the low level, long-term exposure we receive from daily cell phone use. And, cell phone use is a relatively new technology that has only become commonplace over the last 10 to 15 years.
The new research has sparked concern in the scientific community – and the issue probably won’t go away any time soon. So, what are we do to? Do we ignore the research and the possibility? Or, is there something we can do about it without giving up what has become a lifeline for so many of us?
Well, short of returning to a pre-wireless age, which is out of the question and will never happen, here are a few precautions we can take:
- Use a speakerphone. This eliminates the need to place the phone right next to your head.
- Use a headset or an ear piece for your calls.
- If placed next to your head, limit the duration and frequency of your calls.
- Keep your phone in your purse, on your desk or in a pocket where it doesn’t have contact with your body. Don’t keep it in the waistband of your pants, Gentlemen – or in your bra, Ladies.
- Limit cell phone use by children who, because of their still developing nervous systems, may be more vulnerable to any potential harm.
Protecting ourselves is simply a matter of exercising common sense and limiting our exposure to RF exposure when possible. And, until more studies have been conducted and cell phones have a long history of scientific research behind them, we’ll never really know for sure how – or if – they negatively affect our health. Until then, it’s better to err on the side of caution 🙂
Thanks for joining me everyone. Until next time, stay in GOOD HEALTH and . . .
TAKE THE COURSE AND TAKE CHARGE!
Time for Review: For more on Cell Phones and Cancer go to THE SINGLE SOURCE CANCER COURSE, Volume 1, Page 233-234; For more on Glioblastoma go to FRIEND OR FOE? POLIO AND CANCER, https://susanwilkinghoran.com//friend-or-foe-polio-and-cancer/
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