Morgan BellMobile phones affect brains and kill in a storm
June 26th 2006 10:54
Electromagnetic fields emitted by some mobile phones have been found to have an effect on the brain cortex.
A research team led by Dr. Paolo M. Rossini of Fatebenefratelli, Italy, used Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation to investigate brain fuction under exposure to commonly emitted electromagnetic fields. Most of the subjects demonstrated an excitability change in the motor cortex adjacent to the mobile phone. Effects lasted up to one hour after the exposure.
More than 500 million people worldwide use mobile phones that emit electromagnetic fields. While their effect on the brain cortex may not necessarily be harmful, they may be significant for individuals with conditions involving cortical excitability, such as epilepsy.
"It should be argued that long-lasting and repeated exposure to EMFs linked with intense use of cellular phones in daily life might be harmful or beneficial in brain-diseased subjects," the study concluded. "Further studies are needed to better circumstantiate these conditions and to provide safe rules for the use of this increasingly more widespread device."
A seperate study, led by Associate Professor Andrew Wood from the Brain Sciences Institute at Melbourne's Swinburne University previously found that electromagnetic radiation from mobile phones can reduce levels of the hormone melatonin, which is connected to the body's sleep-wake cycle.
Scientists are still uncertain of the exact effect of melatonin on sleep. However, the study found that exposure to mobile phone radiation resulted in heightened alpha-wave activity in the brain after the subject had gone to bed. According to ABC Science, "alpha waves are associated with relaxation and daydreaming but normally disappear with sleep".
Associate Professor Wood concluded that at this stage, mobile phone radiation does not significantly affect sleep. He told ABC Science: "If people are finding they can't sleep after using mobile phones often it's the content of what they've been talking about that's the reason they can't sleep."
A far more real threat of mobile phones "comes not from the radiation that it emits but the metal components it contains", COSMOS magazine reports. According to a case study by medical doctors Swinda Esprit, Prasad Kothari and Ram Dhillon from London, UK, mobile phones may serve as lightning rods when used outdoors in a thunderstorm. The doctors cited three previous cases of people being killed by lightning, in China in 2005, in South Korea in 2004 and in Malaysia in 1999.
"This rare phenomenon is a public health issue, and education is necessary to highlight the risk," the trio said.
(image from flickr.com)
A research team led by Dr. Paolo M. Rossini of Fatebenefratelli, Italy, used Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation to investigate brain fuction under exposure to commonly emitted electromagnetic fields. Most of the subjects demonstrated an excitability change in the motor cortex adjacent to the mobile phone. Effects lasted up to one hour after the exposure.
Mobile lineup: who did it?
More than 500 million people worldwide use mobile phones that emit electromagnetic fields. While their effect on the brain cortex may not necessarily be harmful, they may be significant for individuals with conditions involving cortical excitability, such as epilepsy.
"It should be argued that long-lasting and repeated exposure to EMFs linked with intense use of cellular phones in daily life might be harmful or beneficial in brain-diseased subjects," the study concluded. "Further studies are needed to better circumstantiate these conditions and to provide safe rules for the use of this increasingly more widespread device."
A seperate study, led by Associate Professor Andrew Wood from the Brain Sciences Institute at Melbourne's Swinburne University previously found that electromagnetic radiation from mobile phones can reduce levels of the hormone melatonin, which is connected to the body's sleep-wake cycle.
Scientists are still uncertain of the exact effect of melatonin on sleep. However, the study found that exposure to mobile phone radiation resulted in heightened alpha-wave activity in the brain after the subject had gone to bed. According to ABC Science, "alpha waves are associated with relaxation and daydreaming but normally disappear with sleep".
Associate Professor Wood concluded that at this stage, mobile phone radiation does not significantly affect sleep. He told ABC Science: "If people are finding they can't sleep after using mobile phones often it's the content of what they've been talking about that's the reason they can't sleep."
A far more real threat of mobile phones "comes not from the radiation that it emits but the metal components it contains", COSMOS magazine reports. According to a case study by medical doctors Swinda Esprit, Prasad Kothari and Ram Dhillon from London, UK, mobile phones may serve as lightning rods when used outdoors in a thunderstorm. The doctors cited three previous cases of people being killed by lightning, in China in 2005, in South Korea in 2004 and in Malaysia in 1999.
"This rare phenomenon is a public health issue, and education is necessary to highlight the risk," the trio said.
(image from flickr.com)
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