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A few days ago, it happened again..was it just a coincidence or is the universe trying to tell me something?

It started with a conversation I had with a patient early one morning.  He was explaining a new business he had recently become involved with.  He is selling a device that attaches to a cell phone in order to avert electrical waves that are suspected of causing brain tumors.  It sounded interesting until he mentioned “multilevel marketing”….ah-ha…of course I warned him of the old pyramid scheme.  I listened and respectively agreed to read up on this product when I had time.

Later that afternoon, I happened to have a discussion with a doctor who works in our office.  I’m not sure what type of doctor she prefers to be called as her name is followed by multiple letters that signify she’s a brainiac.  She is our nutritionist slash biochemist whom we rely on to “dumb it down” so we can understand the mechanism of action in certain supplements.  For whatever reason, we came upon the subject of cell phones and she commented that we would be seeing more brain cancer due to the increase usage of cell phones.

As of December 2007, there was an estimated 255.4 million cell phone users in the U.S. That’s 84% of the population. In fact, global use is expected to reach 90% by 2010 says a study commissioned by the GSM Association, the global trade association for all mobile operators. The cell phone has become one of our most important pieces of electronics on the planet -- but at what cost and do cell phones cause brain cancer?  That is the million dollar question.

Here’s a brief explanation how cell phones work:  they operate on radio frequencies (RF), a form of electromagnetic radiation -- waves of electric and magnetic energy that radiate at the speed of light -- that is located in the ultra-high frequency end of the electromagnetic spectrum, somewhere between FM radio waves and the waves used in microwave ovens, radars and satellites. Currently, there are no federally mandated RF standards, although the FCC does mandate a specific absorption rate (SAR) that dictates the allowable amount of RF energy that can be safely absorbed into the body. This SAR value is based on the thermal effect of RFs or, in other words, how much heat your body can safely absorb rather than the cancer causing non-thermal effects.

The amount of RF a person is exposed to from a cell phone depends on a number of things, such as:
•    The physical distance from the base station (the actual cell phone itself or, in the case of a cordless phone, the docking station).
•    The duration and frequency of cell phone use, including the preferred side of the head.
•    The type of phone (older analog models induce greater exposure than newer, digital ones).
Because RFs in very large doses have been shown to induce cancer in laboratory studies of animals, there is concern that prolonged exposure to low RF levels may increase the risk of cancer in humans. What does the research say, though?

That’s where this blog gets stuck.  I remember researching this subject about 6 months ago.  The majority of articles, including those from the American Cancer Society, noted all the studies were inconclusive but recommended limited use…just in case.

And now, although most current research continues to give us the ole..."it doesn’t appear cell phones cause brain cancer, but we’re not really sure yet”…there has been a leak just in the past few weeks.  Please read this article and bried excerpt from an August 2008 (can’t get any more recent than this!) article by the National Research Center for Women and Children:

In July 2008, Dr. Ronald Herberman, director of the University of Pittsburgh Cancer Institute, warned his staff that the risks from cell phone radiation may be higher than we had thought. He advised that rather than wait for definitive studies, we should curb our cell phone use now.

The extensive use of cell phones is a relatively recent phenomenon, and since cancers usually take at least 10-20 years to develop, it will be years before research is likely to conclude whether cell phones cause cancer or not. Meanwhile, there is new research suggesting behavioral problems in children exposed to cell phones while their mothers were pregnant or during their early years.

At this point, we don't know as much as we need to know, but there are several studies suggesting reasons for concern, and other studies that are more reassuring. This is the first time that a leading U.S. cancer center has raised concern about cell phone use, and the first time a medical journal has published a study indicating behavioral problems in children that may be linked to cell phones.

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