Where I work, we receive daily health news bulletins, and we received one yesterday that I found very interesting."Humanity uses various forms of radiation in our everyday life. From microwaves to X-rays, we are surrounded by EMF waves (electromagnetic radiation). Modern medicine thanks Madame Curie for her discovery of the X-ray, but recognizes radiation poisoning eroded her health and eventually claimed her life.
Almost two billion people worldwide use cell phones, many of whom are children. This usage represents an unprecedented exposure to electromagnetic radiation in the population. Estimates put EMF radiation exposure at 100 times what it was only a few decades ago. Today, 30 to 50,000 new cases of brain and eye cancers are attributable to cell phone usage. Projections indicate this number will rise to 500,000 by 2010.
These energy waves carry information invisibly over great distances and can penetrate solid objects, humans included. As these are human-made forms of radiation, they are seen as foreign. Our bodies, well designed as they may be, do not have a built in protective mechanism for this kind of radiation, unlike solar radiation. Some fear humans put their health at risk bathing in a sea of EMF radiation.
Founder of the Safe Wireless Initiative, Dr. George Carlo, a world public health authority on cell phones, cautions harm from wireless technology may be even more tragic than global warming. His research suggests cell phone radiation can cause genetic damage. He found exposure allowed for leakage of the blood brain barrier. Normally, the blood brain barrier is a tightly controlled border. His research suggests even moderate use of wireless communication technology dramatically increases the risk of brain tumors.
Dr. Carlo explains when people are under stress, their nervous system goes into a sympathetic state, otherwise known as the fight or flight response. At a cellular level, stress causes cells to close down, as if they are in a sympathetic lock position. In such a state, nutrients have difficulty getting into cells and waste has trouble getting out. This leads to energy deficiency and an inability to communicate with other cells. From a health stand point, this is bad news. Essentially, the whole biological system is not functioning well and the immune system will follow suit.
People who are sensitive to cell phone radiation describe symptoms such as anxiety, insomnia, concentration difficulties, poor digestion, memory problems, immune dysfunction and reproductive trouble.
If electromagnetic pollution is responsible for such a collection of health dysfunction, people will waste a lot of time taking prescriptions that miss the mark. Making a lifestyle change may be the better solution. Because the health of you and your loved ones is so very valuable, consider using wireless tools sparingly."
... Vancouver Island News Group
Yikes! I wonder what other health hazards we are exposing ourselves to, without being aware. We are all, at this very moment, sitting in front of computer monitors. Hmmmmm....
How crazy :o lol I agree with you and wonder what else we are exposing ourselves to..
ReplyDeleteI wonder why we don't hear about these things on a mainstream level in the United States? Possibly because we're worth more to the money-makers when we're sick.
ReplyDeleteThank goodness all these destructive practices will be slowly tapering off soon.
Who knew that my anxiety level was so high because of technology! I so should have been born in the 40's! Love your blog!
ReplyDeleteYeah, we're learning about this in science and my teacher told us that using a phone makes the molecules in your brain vibrate. Eeeeeeeewwww.
ReplyDeleteThanks for this interesting blog. Years ago, when cellphones were introduced, it was said that prolonged use could cause Thermal Tissue Damage. I researched a whole lot of telecoms and scientific sources, but there seemd to be no agreement on it. The most explicit information I got was on a website of a doctor at Wisconsin Medical School, who conceded (in the 1990's) that it was 'not proven'. The best I could find was that the New Zealand telecomunnicayions authority recommended that no homes or schools be sited within a distance of 1/2km from the antenna, I think. I seem to remember the Wisconsin doctor's name: Moulder, possibly. He concluded that the microwave frequency on which the phones operated was the cause of the damage. Some French researchers commented that cellphone users should not have the instrument near their heads for more than 10 minutes at a time. I've never followed it up, but obviously the phones are far more widely used, and of course the network operators wouldn't 'hype' this sort of thing too much, as there are vested interests (to say the least!).
ReplyDeleteWow Jo! Good information. I know there is a rating system regarding what is a "safe" level and I have always purchased cell phones under the "safe" level. I'm sorry I can't remember what it is called (If anyone knows what I'm referring to,could you please either post or email?). Our poor brains! We subject them to so much. I wonder if there are ways to reduce the exposure (aside from the obvious-don't use a cell phone)
ReplyDeleteI also wonder what the impact is when you commute to work on public transportation and are engulfed by a sea of people all talking on their cell phones. Yikes!
Great info to have and I thank you for it.
Here is a link to Safe Policy Institute the Science and Public Policy Institute.
ReplyDeleteHere is a link to Dr. George Carlo.
ReplyDeleteI'm glad I'm not reproducing anymore. Although I don't use my cell phone that much.
ReplyDeleteI've stopped listning to and reading about all these cell phone research. They all come up with something different and nobody can really proof or disproof anything.
ReplyDeleteMaybe I'm the odd man (uh...woman:-) out, but I'm literally addicted to my cell phone. I don't even have a land line phone anymore and haven't in 3 years. I am starting to use my hands free device more and more but only because it's easier to use when I'm driving.
ReplyDeleteI'm sitting here thinking about all that I'd have to sacrifice to reduce my level of exposure ~ is it selfish or even insane for me to say I wouldn't be willing to make the sacrifice? I don't know but I definitely makes me think.
I have a cell phone, but it's always out of battery and sits on my desk at home. It's doing me no harm in that state -- of course, if I get a flat tire, it isn't going to help me, either.
ReplyDeleteEh. Stupid scaremongering. You should really talk to whoever sends out these Bulletins and tell them to research their stuff better.
ReplyDeleteNumerous studies have shown no preceptible link between illness and cell phones, see for example here .
If cell phone radiation caused any sickness, wouldn't we have hospitals full of sick people already? Cell phones have been in use since the 80s!
And equating electromagnetic waves with X-rays is the worst kind of uninformed quackery. Light is an electromagnetic wave. Your radio is transmitted via electromagnetic waves. Your television? Electromagnetic waves. A hundred times more EM exposure than a hundred times ago? Please. Your cellphone has a sender with a few hundred milliwatts of power. Standing in the noon sun? About a kilowatt.
Well, if you have been in a public place lately, you can see that cell phones are causing brain damage. Why else would people discuss the most private of issues at an extremely loud volume in the middle of a store?!!! If you are yelling the details of "so and so's" intimate life or discussing your OB/GYN appointment with your mom while picking up stuff for supper, don't give me an ugly look. I can't help but hear when you are in line behind me! Yelling into a device you hold more often than you hold your own kids!
ReplyDeleteI often wonder about my daughter who has been experiencing mini seizures when she is stressed, if her constant use of her cell phone has something to do with it. Like many others, she doesn't have a land-line phone because it's much cheaper to have a cell phone.
ReplyDeleteI've also heard that there is a hypothesis that it is the cell phone towers which emit a high pitched sound or vibration that people don't notice may be the reason for the sudden drastic death toll of honey bees.
An excellent 'service', Johanna - it's a wonderful post, and too bad more don't know about it and exercise caution.
ReplyDeleteI worked in the development of not only the cellular phone industry; computer industry, but also with those who've put up appropriate satellites so that we could move some of the 'dangers' out into space.
Most towers are placed on very high hills; mountain tops - and all efforts have been made to move as much of the microwave usage to a remote spot.
Nevertheless, people who're using dish television run risks.
People on the telephones - yes, at risk.
People on computers - yes, risk even though much has been done to reduce it and probably will continue to be done to minimize the damaging effects.
I remember when we used to have our feet x-rayed before buying a pair of shoes; then they discovered the damages from that, and removed all those machines.
Once we weren't given lead vests and other shields to protect us when we had x-rays taken; now everyone has them including the staff, etc.
Having had a critical brain injury 7 years ago this April; knowing how long it took to recover almost completely (about 6 years), I dealt with seizures; loss of memory and use of my legs as well as my fingers and hands were 'slow' to respond.
After that experience, I've been very aware of any 'changes' I feel; note the time I spend on the computer - rarely talk on any phone (including my cellular), and avoid television as much as possible because the television isn't the best for our eyes and systems either.
My youngest sister is a holistic healer; she's current on many of these things, and between her web-site and her e-mails to me, she keeps me pretty current on a variety of 'threats' to our systems.
I noticed someone wrote about us being worth more when we're sick; I totally agree with that, and of course in our country if we'd die, we'd get off the social security rolls as well, so there seems to be little incentive to make Americans aware of dangers of this type, and the doctors make big dollars 'treating' us as well as the pharmecutical (somehow I think I've spelled that wrong...anyway) industry is a multi-billion dollar industry also.
We won't cure cancer because it would put too many people out of work, yet I have a book that was written in 1943, that tells of the cure and the diet and health-care plan to minimize the chances of having cancer.
I had my cancer in 1974; immediately after surgery I went on the diet program in this book, and now it's 35 years later and I've never had recurrence.
I sometimes think the 'go green' concept is because as a world and certainly a nation (USA), we realize we must make those changes back to what was once practiced in the 1800's - it's not a 'new thing'; it's a return of the old 'tried and true' concept.
I'm glad you have such a humanitarian spirit; I can see why you like yellow - you shine a glowing golden light on everything you do.
Yikes! I had always heard that your cellphone can interrupt your sleep schedule which is why I've started turning it off at night...
ReplyDeleteIt'd be interesting to see the percentages of those effected and how strongly.
This was interesting, but Jo, you've peaked my cell-phone born anxiety...What if I'm sensitive to this radiation?! haha.
Yikes.
-B
Josie, have you seen the e-mail going around with the movie that has people sitting around, then they put their cell phones in a circle with unpopped pop corn in the middle and then they call all the cell phones?
ReplyDeleteAll the corn pops.
Makes you think.
Yikes! I was reading your post and feeling good about the fact that I've never had a cell phone and then you mention computer monitors. :-)
ReplyDeleteThere have been reports about cell phone hazards on our network news programs here, but your post has a lot of details that I had never heard.
I don't understand why so many people can't do without cell phones. But that's probably because I WAS born in the 40s.
Wow ... excellent information. I started reading this earlier today, and got interrupted by work! I went through and read about Madame Curie. I was really interested in her story.
ReplyDeleteI know that cellphones are harmful, as are other items that emit EMF(s) but ... I'm not giving up my cell. Noway Nohow, NuhUH!!
I'll just have to live with the threat.
Have a good one!
Josie: I think there are many modern technological devices/items out there that bother our physical systems that we don't even think about. I've also heard about the danger of plastics related to food and drink products. Since getting to know my naturopath, she's been teaching me a LOT! Eat natural. No sugar. No white bread. Limit read meat. Eat colorful fruits and veggies. Take appropriate supplements. And minimize cell phone use. (Mongst other things.) D
ReplyDeleteWow! Thanks for the info - and looking at this screen does make me wonder...
ReplyDeleteI think we adapt and move on. And the Vancouver Island News should know it's Madame Curie not Currie, the Indian dish.
ReplyDeleteDidn't Greer Garson play her? False eyelashes in the lab...
Hi Jo,
ReplyDeleteThe article quoted by you is indeed revealing. My only worry is about the ingenuity of these researches. More often a well researched and widely accepted conclusion may become obsolete when researched after several years again. The theory that eggs are good for health, and growth was the one thing I used for my children when they were babies. Suddenly recently eggs have lost their glory - says the new research. But thanks for bringing all the details to your readers.
Your blog is ever so current and humane. Unlike some celebrity bloggers who use the medium to run some persons down on one hand or to glorify others whenever it pleases them. Cheers....!!!!
Wolynski, you're right! That's what I get for cutting and pasting from our newsletter, and not reading it first. I love currie with coconut. *heh*
ReplyDeleteYou should look up the word "radiophobe".
ReplyDeleteOur species evolved in an environment with much higher levels of ionizing radiation that we see now. People living in high mountains have even greater radiation exposure.
Now look up: "hysteria"
Wotdephuck, you should look up "tongue in cheek". Anyone who knows me knows I am being silly with this post. :-)
ReplyDeleteI work about 20 feet away from a very busy x-ray machine in a hospital facility. I have probably been fried many times over. *heh*
I have always wondered if microwaves boosted the instance of breast cancer in women. Microwaves are very often breast high and women do a lot of cooking. Hmmmm.
ReplyDelete