Cellphone and Brain Cancer

Cellphone and brain cancer? (either read this article fully or not at all because if you read this article partially you may miss serious points)

This is an addendum to my previously written article which you can see below. A very recently concluded WHO meeting on cellphone and brain caner has started considering that cell phone usage may be indeed related with brain cancers. But the jury is still out in this regard since WHO hints that the available information at this moment is not enough to convict this ubiquitously used gadget, there is only a possible link with brain tumor and more studies, especially of long term are recommended to solve the mystery on safety of these phones.

My earlier article on this subject starts below here:

Cellphone and brain cancer? lot of buzz is going on this topic for at least a decade or so now.

Lots of people are concerned that usage of this type of phone is associated with an increased risk of developing brain cancer. The internet is abound with many articles that promote and augment the notion that using the cell phones is detrimental to your health especially in the form of brain cancer development.

Cell phone uses radio waves or radiofrequency (RF) energy for the transmission of voice generated signals. Whenever radio waves are used then the concern of cancer arises because our experience has shown that x ray can cause cancers. We all know the complications arose from the radiation energy generated due to the 2nd world war bombing and Chernobyl nuclear tragedy. We also are aware that how much the astronauts are under risk of radiation and how much precaution they undertake to prevent such serious radiation exposure.

Yes so radiation energy exposure could be hazardous, no doubt ifs and buts about it.

But are all types of radiation exposure dangerous? The good news is yes there are non harmful RF energies as well. It is only the ionizing type of RF, usually called as radiation that is associated with cell damage and the stimulation of tumor development and other health perils but not the non ionizing type (called as radio waves).

For example MRI technique uses radio waves and there is no concern of tumor development or other health hazards in general with it. Why so? As pointed above MRI uses non ionizing RF.

When you seek the answer in the internet you come across number of articles on this topic. Some support the view that brain cancer can develop, some oppose and the remained are equivocal.

Well it is fully understandable why so much buzz going on considering that brain tumors could be quite serious issue and at the same time the cell phone has become a vital requirement in today’s extremely interactive & fast paced world.

The big question, when so much conflicting opinions are inundating us whom should we look up to get the answer?

I would go with some highly reliable authorities because the information what we can get from such a source is largely unbiased and also based on scientific data.

National cancer Institute, part of NIH (National Institute of Health) is definitely one such authority when it comes to cancer related subject.

They have published a very detailed article on cellphone and brain cancer at their home site on this topic. It also appears to be fairly recent (in 2010).

This prestigious institute opines that cell phone usage does not carry an increased risk of inducing brain cancer. Their assertion is based in several study data available and they believe that incidence of brain tumors, especially two of the commonest; the glioma and meningioma is not related with cell phone usage. They do not make any specific or definite comment on the other brain tumors but there are allusions that even other tumor incidence doesn’t raise significantly.

As pointed above the cell phones use non ionizing radiation so they are not expected to produce any harmful effect on our body and brain.

Having said that it doesn’t mean a cell phone user should not take any precautions. Unnecessary long usage of cell phone should be avoided. During long calls switching the ears may be something to consider. Also keep the handset and antenna away from the body as much as possible, so the ear phone/head phone system is recommended. If a choice is there use SMS instead of verbal communication, also substitute cell phone by a landline phone. My previous article ends here.

This is another addendum to this article after WHO’s recent statement:

Until it is fully lucid as to whether cell phones are safe or not it is better to use them prudently. First of all if you can avoid using it, do it so, why to take any risk, agree? If you cannot avoid using it then at lest follow the precautions pointed in the above paragraph (the list of precautions is not complete in this article). WHO also points out that children may be more vulnerable to develop brain cancers due to their thin skull etc, so let them use cell phones only for emergencies, not otherwise.

Cellphone and brain cancer do not appear to be so unrelated anymore after this recent WHO notification, but jury is still out, so unfortunately the cofusion still continues.