It's Official: Cellphones Affect the Health of Our Brain
Categories: Health, Healthy Eating
The Internet is are all abuzz over the findings of a new study that's found cellphone radiation has an effect on the brain. This challenges the long-held assumption that radiation emitted by cellphones is too weak to have any effect on our health.The biological effect of cellphone usage has always been controversial and the current study fuels the fire.
The study wasn't published in some obscure medical journal. It's in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) and the study's main author, Nora Volkow, is one of the world's leading brain scientists and is the director of the National Institute on Drug Abuse. Prestigious journal plus top researcher means people are paying attention to this study.
The scientists had 47 participants hold a cellphone, turned on, to their ears for 50 minutes (the phone was muted in order to rule out the possibility that sound or the content of what was being listened to was what was affecting the participant's brains). After 50 minutes the researchers took brain scans of the participants.
What they found was shocking -- there were significant changes in brain activity because of the phone. In fact, glucose metabolism (how we get energy) was seven per cent higher in areas where phones are normally near (parts of the brain responsible for memory, language and vision).
"Our study doesn't enlighten this controversy at all, sorry to tell you," says Volkow. "What it does say is our brains are sensitive to electromagnetic radiation, which is fascinating."
This is a start. And Louis Slesin, editor of Microwave News, feels the research, "Is on the brink of resolving [the] long-standing dispute."
CTIA-The Wireless Association, which is the international association for the wireless industry, had a predictable response: "Peer-reviewed scientific evidence has overwhelmingly indicated wireless devices, within the limits established by the FCC, do not pose a public-health risk or cause any adverse health effects."
This is an exaggeration, to say the least. The peer-reviewed research on how cellphone use effects health has been anything but conclusive. Some studies find harm, others find none.
So, the best plan is to be cautious with our cellphones. Based on the current study, we know they're having some impact on our brains, so it makes sense to employ a precautionary principle. Try to use an earpiece or the speakerphone function whenever possible. Use a landline for extended phone calls. And make sure you monitor your children's cellphone usage carefully -- thinner scalps and skulls are less efficient at blocking potentially harmful radiation (meaning cellphone usage may have a greater impact on kids).
The Healthy Foodie is Doug DiPasquale, Holistic Nutritionist and trained chef, living in Toronto. You can email him with questions at dougthehealthyfoodie@gmail.com.
"Our study doesn't enlighten this controversy at all, sorry to tell you," says Volkow. "What it does say is our brains are sensitive to electromagnetic radiation, which is fascinating."
This is a start. And Louis Slesin, editor of Microwave News, feels the research, "Is on the brink of resolving [the] long-standing dispute."
CTIA-The Wireless Association, which is the international association for the wireless industry, had a predictable response: "Peer-reviewed scientific evidence has overwhelmingly indicated wireless devices, within the limits established by the FCC, do not pose a public-health risk or cause any adverse health effects."
This is an exaggeration, to say the least. The peer-reviewed research on how cellphone use effects health has been anything but conclusive. Some studies find harm, others find none.
So, the best plan is to be cautious with our cellphones. Based on the current study, we know they're having some impact on our brains, so it makes sense to employ a precautionary principle. Try to use an earpiece or the speakerphone function whenever possible. Use a landline for extended phone calls. And make sure you monitor your children's cellphone usage carefully -- thinner scalps and skulls are less efficient at blocking potentially harmful radiation (meaning cellphone usage may have a greater impact on kids).
The Healthy Foodie is Doug DiPasquale, Holistic Nutritionist and trained chef, living in Toronto. You can email him with questions at dougthehealthyfoodie@gmail.com.
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