Cell Phone Users At Risk for Brain Tumors

“Doctors should be very concerned by this and discuss precautions with their patients,” says Dr. Lennart Hardell. Dr. Hardell is referring to the results obtained from a new study on the effects of cell phone and cordless phone radiation on the brain.

Dr. Hardell, MD and PhD, is a professor at the Department of Oncology, University Hospital in Örebro, Sweden and led this newest study. The study, published in the Journal of Pathophysiology in October of 2014, pooled analysis of two case-control studies on malignant brain tumors with patients diagnosed during 1997-2003 and 2007-2009.The study found:

“Long-term use of both mobile and cordless phones is associated with an increased risk for glioma, the most common type of brain tumor, the latest research on the subject concludes. The new study shows that the risk for glioma was tripled among those using a wireless phone for more than 25 years and that the risk was also greater for those who had started using mobile or cordless phones before age 20 years.“

Cell phone use, as well as landline cordless phone use, puts the user at risk. Both phones use wireless communication in the form of radiofrequency or RF radiation to send and receive signals. If the phone is held up to the ear, these radiofrequencies will be absorbed by the brain, as well as the eye. The brain, being electromagnetic in nature, has an affinity towards electrical frequencies and, as a result, a very high absorption rate of these electromagnetic frequencies.

When the brain absorbs these type of radiation, cells can become irregular or damaged due to the intensity of the frequencies as well as the heating of the tissue, a result of the thermal effects of the frequencies. There are even studies showing DNA damage as a result of cell exposure to RF radiation.

The Swedish study looked at approximately 1498 cases of brain tumors. These tumors were all malignant, with 92% being gliomas and about 50% of the gliomas being astrocytoma grade IV, the most malignant variety of brain tumor.

The study also found:

“…an increased risk for glioma associated with use for more than 1 year of both mobile and cordless phones…The highest risk was for those with the longest latency for mobile phone use over 25 years.”

Overall, the highest increase in risk for tumor growth was found among those participants who held the phone up to the same side of the head when talking, this is called ipsilateral use, as well as those who used their phones cumulatively for 100 hours or more. But it was the participants who began the use of cell phone and/or cordless phones before the age of 20 who were at the greatest risk for developing malignant brain tumors. The results of Dr. Hardell’s work are disturbing and, as he stated, should concern both doctors as well as users of cell phones and landline cordless phones.