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Recent Research on Brain and Biological Effects of Cell-Phones
- Earthtimes News report, "Cellular phones do affect brain cells", June 27, 2006.
“Using a cell phone is not innocuous. It has an effect on your brain. Whether that's good or bad, we don't yet know, but it's definitely having an effect. The effects are clear. The increase in excitability is clear and lasts for about an hour. Is that effect harmful or beneficial? I don't know,” he said.
- Reuters report, "FDA to review wireless-phone safety", April 6, 2006.
Swedish researchers said last month that the use of cellular phones over a long period of time can raise the risk of brain tumors. ... Those who heavily used wireless phones had a 240 percent increased risk of a cancerous tumor on the side of the head where they used their phone, they reported.
- The latest news at RFSAFE.
- AP report, "Health may be concern when giving kids cell phones", March 23, 2005.
Parents should think twice before giving in to a middle-schooler's demands for a cell phone, some scientists say, because potential long-term health risks remain unclear.
- Reuters report, "Health study urges caution with cell phones", January 11, 2005.
Stewart said studies suggesting mobile phones can cause nonmalignant brain tumors, cognitive impairment or DNA damage should not be dismissed, but more research is needed.
- Reuters report, "Study: Cell phones scramble DNA" , December 20, 2004.
Radio waves from mobile phones harm body cells and damage DNA in laboratory conditions, according to a new study majority-funded by the European Union, researchers said on Monday. ... After being exposed to electromagnetic fields that are typical for mobile phones, the cells showed a significant increase in single and double-strand DNA breaks. The damage could not always be repaired by the cell. DNA carries the genetic material of an organism and its different cells.
"There was remaining damage for future generation of cells," said project leader Franz Adlkofer.
This means the change had procreated. Mutated cells are seen as a possible cause of cancer.
- Fortune Article, "Are Cellphones a Health Risk?", October 21, 2004.
Last week we got one of those periodic reminders that nobody knows whether cellphones may be seriously affecting our health. That worries me, given the ubiquity of these phones in our world today, and the fact that most of you reading this hold one to your head.
- BBC report, "Mobile phones may trigger Alzheimer's" [PDF], Wednesday, 5 February, 2003, 12:35 GM.
"Mobile phones damage key brain cells and could trigger the early onset of Alzheimer's disease, a study suggests. Researchers in Sweden have found that radiation from mobile phone handsets damages areas of the brain associated with learning, memory and movement. The study, which was carried out on rats, is the latest twist in the long-running debate over whether mobile phones are a health risk."
- Leif G. Salford, Arne E. Brun, Jacob L. Eberhardt, Lars Malmgren, Bertil R.R. Persson. 2003. Nerve Cell Damage in Mammalian Brain after Exposure to Microwaves from GSM Mobile Phones. Environmental Health Perspectives 111(7): 881-883, June 2003 (original here).
"The possible risks of radio-frequent electromagnetic fields for the human body, is a growing concern for the society. We have earlier shown that weak pulsed microwaves give rise to a significant leakage of albumin through the blood-brain barrier (BBB). Now we have investigated whether a pathological leakage over the BBB might be combined with damage to the neurons. Three groups of each 8 rats were exposed for 2 hours to GSM mobile phone electromagnetic fields of different strengths. We found, and present here for the first time, highly significant (p<0.002) evidence for neuronal damage in both the cortex, the hippocampus and the basal ganglia in the brains of exposed rats."
- Dariusz Leszczynski. 2002. Effect of GSM mobile phone radiation on blood-brain
barrier. Proceedings of the URSI Meeting, Maastricht, The Netherlands.
"Some animal studies have suggested that mobile phone radiation may cause increase in blood-brain barrier permeability. We have hypothesized (Leszczynski et al. Differentiation, 70, 2002, in press) that the mobile phone radiation-induced increased expression and phosphorylation (activity) of stress protein hsp27 might be the molecular mechanism regulating blood-brain barrier permeability and, possibly, cell apoptosis. Here we present evidence suggesting that mobile phone radiation indeed affects hsp27-dependent cytoplasmic distribution of F-actin and stability of stress fibers. This observation supports our hypothesis that mobile phone radiation-induced changes in hsp27 expression/activity might eventually lead to increase in the permeability of blood-brain barrier."
- Dariusz Leszczynski, Sakari Joenvaara, Jukka Reivinen, Reetta Kuokka. 2002. Non-thermal activation of the hsp27/p38MAPK stress pathway by mobile phone radiation in human endothelial cells: Molecular mechanism for cancer- and blood-brain barrier-related effects. Differentiation 70:120-129.
"Based on the known functions of hsp27, we put forward the hypothesis that mobile phone radiation-induced activation of hsp27 may (i) facilitate the development of brain cancer by inhibiting the cytochrome c/caspase-3 apoptotic pathway and (ii) cause an increase in bloodbrain barrier permeability through stabilization of endothelial cell stress fibers. We postulate that these events, when occurring repeatedly over a long period of time, might become a health hazard because of the possible accumulation of brain tissue damage. Furthermore, our hypothesis suggests that other brain damaging factors may co-participate in mobile phone radiation-induced effects."
Reducing Cell-Phone Radiation Exposure