Here we go again: another study linking cell phones to brain tumours

[BoMac]

Mobile phone use 'linked to tumour'

By Nic Fleming

Long-term users of mobile phones are significantly more likely to develop a certain type of brain tumour on the side of the head where they hold their handsets, according to new research.

The results seem to suggest health risks in people who have regularly used mobiles for over 10 years
A large-scale study found that those who had regularly used mobiles for longer than 10 years were almost 40 per cent more likely to develop nervous system tumours called gliomas near to where they hold their phones.

The new research, to be published later this year in the International Journal of Cancer, is the second study to suggest increased risks of specific types of brain tumours in regions close to where mobile phone emissions enter the head.

However, a number of other studies have found no increased health risks associated with mobile phone use.

Prof Lawrie Challis, the chairman of the government-funded Mobile Telecommunications Health Research (MTHR) programme, said last week that most research had shown that mobiles were safe in the short term but that there was a "hint of something" for longer-term users.

Prof Challis, who is negotiating funding for a long-term international study, said last night: "I agree with the authors that this is a hint that needs further exploration. It's further reason why a long-term study is necessary."

Louis Slesin, the editor of Microwave News, a US newsletter on radiation and health that reported the new study, said: "We now have two tumour types found among people who use mobiles for more than 10 years shown by two different research groups. That is compelling evidence."

Researchers from the Radiation and Nuclear Safety Authority in Finland compared the mobile phone use of 1,521 people with gliomas with that of 3,301 people without the cancers.

Before separating out long-term users or looking at the different risks of developing tumours on the side where users held the phone, the scientists found no link between mobile use and gliomas.

However when they looked only at people who had used a mobile for 10 years or more, they found that they were 39 per cent more likely than average to get a glioma on the side of their head where they held their handset.

Prof Anssi Auvinen, an epidemiologist involved in the study, said: "It seems credible as it was after long-term exposure — which makes sense in terms of the length of time it takes for tumours to develop — and it is localised to the side of the head where the handset is held."

A spokesman for the Mobile Operators Association said: "The overall results of this study do not show increased brain tumour risk in relation to mobile phone use.

"The findings related to tumour location are difficult to interpret."

 

[elevated_u2_fan]

I hate cell phones...

I'm probably the only person on earth who does. I can remember a time when you could ride the bus without having to listen to 10 different people carrying on conversations.

And those idiots who have the headsets talking to themselves while they walk down the street...

 

[Liesje]

Weird. Well, I got my first cell a few months ago and I use it maybe once every two weeks. I'm probably more likely to have hearing damage from listening to music on my headphones.

 

[Liesje]

I hate cell phones...

I'm probably the only person on earth who does. I can remember a time when you could ride the bus without having to listen to 10 different people carrying on conversations.

No, I'm with you. I have one b/c it's for work (the employer owns and pays for it). I don't use it for personal use, nor do I care to. Basically, all I need it for is I get text messages anytime a server goes up or down. It's rarely on or even charged. If I didn't have this one, I'd probably just get a pay-by-the-minute plan just to have a phone in the car in case of an accident. I never even had access to a car until I got married this past September, but I do like having a phone in the car (though I'd never in my right mind answer it while driving - see my journal).

 

[A_Wanderer]

We are exposed to electromagnetic radiation from so much these days and the risks are negligable to the convenience.

 

[Irvine511]

i'd be lost without my cell phone.

and i mean that literally. if i were lost and didn't have my cell phone, i couldn't even call the BF for help because i have no idea what his number is b/c it's stored in my directory.

but i use it every day, it's absolutely critical when i'm traveling for work, and i don't have a landline.

but i try to be very considerate on public transportation and usually cover my mouth if i have to have a conversation.

question: what gives with people putting their phone on speaker and holding it a few feet away frome their heads while they talk?

 

[anitram]

I don't have a land line either. So, cell phone it is.

But I am not a big phone talker anyway - you're lucky to catch me for 5 minutes.

 

[Liesje]

No land line here either. I just hate talking on phones (probably because I do it all day for my job). E-mail is actually the fastest way to reach me, b/c I'm always at a computer, but not usually near my office phone and rarely have my cell with me or on.

question: what gives with people putting their phone on speaker and holding it a few feet away frome their heads while they talk?

Maybe they're trying to avoid brain cancer

 

[BoMac]

Maybe they're trying to avoid brain cancer

I was thinking the same thing!

 

[joyfulgirl]

Maybe they're trying to avoid brain cancer

Which is what a headset is for. I love my cell phone but I think I despise Loud Cell Phone Talker more than the average person. So to be forced to listen to both ends of somebody's boring conversation could make a nice person like me nearly homicidal. But for now I'm still in the hostile glare stage.

 

[LarryMullen's POPAngel]

question: what gives with people putting their phone on speaker and holding it a few feet away frome their heads while they talk?

I'm guilty of this, but I just got my first cell with that feature, so cut a girl some slack, would ya?


FYI - I only do that when I'm home or in my car, I'd never whip it out and flip the speaker on in public. That's a no-no to me.

 

[Irvine511]

I'm guilty of this, but I just got my first cell with that feature, so cut a girl some slack, would ya?

but where did the demand for this feature come from?

i'm seriously at a loss here ...

 

[Liesje]

but where did the demand for this feature come from?

i'm seriously at a loss here ...

Most people I know doing it are two-waying b/c it doesn't use minutes and is a direct connection (different than taking a regular call on speaker). When we're calling back and forth while doing work orders, we're suppose to two-way rather than make a phone call.

 

[VertigoGal]

I've heard breathing significantly increases your chances of cancer...

I love my my cell phone and I don't know what I'd do without it. I can get in touch with someone right away if it's really important, go out without needing to schedule a conference with my parents, talk to anyone late at night, text in class, pretend to text to avoid having to talk to people I hate, the possibilities are endless! ha. If you don't like cell phones that's cool but I don't feel bad for loving mine.

as far as the cancer, I've pretty much accepted that everything is giving me cancer. I don't smoke and I eat lots of oranges and that's about as far as I can go.

 

[joyfulgirl]

Reminds me of a great line from "The West Wing" (which I'm only just now watching ) : "Red meat has been found to cause cancer in white rats. Maraschino cherries have been found to cause cancer in white rats. Cellular phones have been found to cause cancer in white rats. Has anyone examined the possibility that cancer might be hereditary in white rats?"

Not that anyone mentioned white rats...

 

[verte76]

I don't have a cell phone.

 

[indra]

I have to admit I love my cell phone, but I don't actually use it all that much. My plans have only ever had 200-300 minutes per month and I've never gone over. When I do need it (such as the time my car broke down on the interstate a few months ago) it's priceless.

I was the first person in my immediate family to get a cell phone and I remember my brother and sister both saying they didn't need or want one. Now both are practically attached to their phones. Go figure.

In this study I would imagine the amount of cell phone use over the ten years would also have some impact on the risk of getting the tumours. At least that's what I'm telling myself...

 

[Irvine511]

i do remember an older gentleman once saying to me that cell phones are to my/our generation as cigarettes were to his.

think about it.

 

[A_Wanderer]

They make us look cool

 

[yolland]

Basically it's too early to say anything certain about any longterm consequences of cell phone use; they just haven't been in widespread use long enough. Both tumor types they've been (tentatively) linked with thus far (neither of which are cancerous, not that that necessarily makes a brain tumor less serious) often take years to develop, and years more to cause symptoms.

Hopefully, no significant link will turn out to exist.

 

[vivalapopedge]

talk to anyone late at night, text in class, pretend to text to avoid having to talk to people I hate,

bahahahahahhaahahahaha


i did that just today, five times, funny how getting a cell phone made me MORE antisocial
i got a cell phone a month ago for christmas, and i've sent over 200 texts so far, and received over 250 probably about half were ones that i sent trying to avoid someone


i don't actually use my cell phone to call, haha, so i dunno if that's safer than holding it up to your ear and getting cancer from that or whatever

 

[intedomine]

Detest the bloody thing, but use it a fair bit...

Bit like the internet really.....

 

[BoMac]

I just got a landline which I plan to be using more