I recently went to see a doctor friend in the UK and saw an interesting book on his shelf entitled “A Handy Way to Cook Your Brain: What’s the Damage?” I immediately began to write the title as it looked like an interesting book but was promptly told not to bother as the book is no longer available – three guesses why? Luckily, he had a spare copy and gave me one. I thought it would be a good idea to share some of the material in the book with you as it is rather fascinating.

Have you ever asked yourself why talking on your mobile while driving has been banned? Maybe the real reason is because a short telephone conversation of 30 seconds duration with your mobile phone would flood your brain and your visual auditory nerves with a hefty dose of 15-20 mW/cm3 – a microwave oven for the same length of time would irradiate you with 1 mW/cm3!

Dr. Gernot Schwinger (www.funksmog.org ) wrote in Ärztezeitung a list of health problems that could be caused by microwave radiation which is what mobile phones use:
• Increased blood plasma viscosity
• Changes in the erythrocytes and leucocytes
• Endothelial damage
• Increased blood coagulation
• Increase in levels of complementary proteins
• Increased histamine activity, vasculitis, hyperaemia and vascular spasms, hypoxia and ischaemia
• Symptoms such as headaches, dizziness, impaired vision, ataxia, cramp attacks, extreme tiredness, lethargy to coma levels, heart symptoms and difficulties, breathing complaints, renal symptoms, etc.

A recently published study – the Salford Study – by Swedish scientists from Lund University provided proof of damage to the nerve cells in the brains of rats which had been subjected to microwave radiation emitted by a mobile phone. There were a total of 24 test animals that were submitted to radiation frequencies for two hours at 10, 100 and 1,000 milliwatts, respectively. A telephone call from a standard mobile phone would put out about 600 milliwatts on average. After a period of 50 days the scientists examined the rat brains and found that there was an increase in the permeability of the blood-brain barrier, allowing larger albumin molecules to leak through which are then deposited in the neural tissue – compare both photos.

In addition, the researchers found ‘dark neural cells’ in some of the rat brains – these were shrunken, atrophied nerve cells which did not function. These appeared mainly in those animals that had been irradiated with 100 milliwatts or more – the more the irradiation was increased, the more cells were killed and dysfunctional. These rats were the equivalent age to human teenagers.

The most important conclusions of the Salford Study are:

• Mobile telephone radiation is the cause of the observed neural damage (brain cell damage)
• The probability of proof is more than 99.8%
• The opening of the blood-brain barrier (BBB) becomes significant after just two hours of a SAR with 2mW/kg (SAR = Specific Absorption Rate).
• The opening of the BBB is still obvious 50 days after the two hour irradiation.
• Damaged and diseased brain cells can be found not only in the parts of the brain that have been penetrated by albumin but also in those that have not.
• The study clearly shows an increase in the correlation between the dose of radiation and pertinent reactions (dose-dependent relationship).
• In spite of the brain damage recorded, no behavioural disturbances were observed in the rats.

The oncologist Professor Lennart Hardell, of the University of Orebro in Sweden, looked into the question to what extent there was a correlation between the use of mobile telephones and the formation of brain tumours. From 1997 to 2003 he investigated 1,617 patients with brain tumours, as well as an equal number of healthy people, and compared the analyses of both groups. His findings revealed that people who used a mobile were 2 ½ times more likely to grow a tumour on the side of their head – actually on the spot where the mobile was held. As regards the formation of a tumour having an effect on the auditory nerve, it was found to be three times more likely to happen in the case of people who used a mobile.

In adults, the radiation emitted by a mobile phone sending out pulsed microwaves concentrated at a focal point of 3 cm (1 ½ inches) from the handset – hence it follows that the damage takes place inside the head.

Every person can absorb electromagnetic waves continuously; this is also characteristic of all living organisms. The Specific Absorption Rate (SAR), quoted in milliwatts per gram (mW/g), tells us how much energy is being absorbed per cubic centimetre of tissue (1 g = 1 cm3). When in the immediate vicinity of a transmitter mast, mobile telephones often develop an SAR value of up to 20mW/g.
The results of an interesting experiment showed that an SAR value as low as 0.001 mW/g was able to effect EEG (electrical brain pattern activity) – which is directly responsible for all movement, and lasted about one week after the exposure to the radiation.
In the Soviet Union, the safety limit for high-frequency radiation was set at 0.01 mW/cm3. In the USA, the limit is set at 10 mW/cm3, in Germany at 2.8 mW/cm3 and in the United Kingdom at 1.1 mW/cm3.

Mobiles and Children
Many people are not aware that wearing spectacles can act as an antenna, concentrating the radiation energy from mobile phone transmitters. Therefore, anyone wearing metal framed glasses will receive a massive dose of energy, not only from the mobile itself, but also from the metallic frames. This will result in cells in the eyes, the brain and the ears being ‘cooked.’

Many children are owners of mobile phones that emit the same radiation as an adult phone. What people are not aware of however, is that a child’s head absorbs 50% more radiation than the head of an adult as their cranial bones are thinner than adults. It has been announced by government officials in the US, based on these studies, for children under the age of 16 years old to be banned from using mobile phones.

The International Agency for Research on Cancer, an arm of the World Health Organization, after a review of dozens of published studies have announced that cellphones are possible cancer-causing agents. The scientists involved have described mobile handsets as “possibly carcinogenic” to humans. They advise people to either use hands-free devices or to text when it is possible to avoid a phone call.

This announcement somewhat contradicts WHO’s previous position that there was no apparent evidence for a link between cancer and cell phone usage. Now, however, the WHO working group says radiofrequency electromagnetic fields like the ones employed by mobile phones heighten the chances of suffering glioma, a malignant form of brain cancer.

There have been a number of studies in past years that have shown that there is a link between mobile phone use and the development of cancer.
In 2009, a study by the IARC published in the Journal of Clinical Oncology showed that there was an 18% increase in brain tumour risk in people who used mobile phones, compared to those that do not. These tumours tended to appear on the side of the head that the mobile phone was most used.

Personally, in clinical practice I have seen an astrocytoma and a rarer rhabdomyosarcoma – both on the side of the head where these two young 24 and 23 year olds respectively used their mobile phones for over 2 hours daily.

Another report issued in 2010 by the International Electromagnetic Field Cooperative (IEFC) and endorsed by 13 scientists from 23 countries, also found a link between mobile phone usage and increased rates of brain tumors. Included in this report is a Swedish study that found a 420 percent increase in brain cancer rates among children who began using mobile and cordless phones as teenagers, as opposed to those that did not.

A Swedish team of scientists in this study found a 420 percent higher risk of brain cancer among people who had started using cellular or cordless phones as teenagers.

The report recommended that children under the age of 18 should only use mobile phones in emergency situations – it recommends using corded land lines whenever possible, and using cellular phones mostly as answering machines, turning them on only to check messages and return calls.

Using mobile phones inside buildings greatly increases the radiation emitted to the base station. Also, the report advises against carrying cell phones against the body, even in pockets.

“Some countries are already banning cell phones over health concerns, with France saying children in elementary schools can only use them for texting,” Morgan said.

It is advisable to use your mobile phone as little as possible; use text messages more and talk less and do not carry your mobile phone on your person.