Do you suffer with unexplained symptoms such as headaches, sleep problems and dizziness following exposure to electromagnetic fields? You could be suffering from this condition.
Do you suffer with unexplained symptoms such as headaches, sleep problems and dizziness following exposure to electromagnetic fields? You could be suffering from this condition.
This is an open access review paper on the EMF-melatonin hypothesis.
Findings are 'first evidence of changes in thyroid cells in response to electromagnetic radiation' says researcher, 'but drawing sweeping conclusions ... is still far off.'
By Dan Even | Mar.06, 2013 | 3:55 AM
Israeli scientists have reported preliminary findings of a possible link between the radiation from cellphones and thyroid cancer. There has been a steep rise in rates of thyroid cancer in recent years in Western countries. The Israeli research, conducted at Beilinson Hospital in Petah Tikva and at Tel Aviv University, identified evidence for the first time of the possible connection between the rise in thyroid cancer cases to the increased exposure to radiation emitted by cellphones.
In one experiment, human thyroid cells collected from healthy patients were subjected to radiation with a device, designed for the study, that simulates the electromagnetic radiation emitted by cellphones. The irradiated thyroid cells proliferated at a much higher, statistically significant rate than non-irradiated cells in the control group.
A second experiment, using different methods and materials, gave similar results. The research was conducted in the Felsenstein Medical Research Center, part of the Sackler Faculty of Medicine at Tel Aviv University and the Rabin Medical Center. Prof. Raphael Feinmesser, head of Beilinson's Ear, Nose and Throat Department was the lead researcher. The findings will be presented for the first time this weekend at the annual conference of the Israeli Society of Otolaryngology, Head and Neck Surgery, in Eilat. "The findings are the first evidence of changes in thyroid cells in response to electromagnetic radiation," said Feinmesser. "But drawing sweeping conclusions as to a connection between cellphone radiation and thyroid cancer is still far off."
The scientific community is divided as to the connection between cellular radiation and cancer. One opinion is that because cellular radiation is non-ionizing and incapable of causing changes in cellular DNA, it cannot cause cancer. But in recent years evidence has mounted from epidemiological studies indicating a relationship between increased exposure to cellular radiation and cancerous growths, especially in the brain and the salivary glands.
"The thyroid gland is located in the neck, but the area is located the same distance from the ear as the regions of the brain where [cancerous] growths have been diagnosed as being related to the use of the [cellular] devices. This is a region that is not far from the center of the device's radiation," said Feinmesser.
The incidence of thyroid cancer has been on the rise in Israel for more than a decade, which matches the rise in the use of cellphones.
Thyroid cancer is three times more common in women than men. It is the fourth most common form of cancer among Jewish women in Israel, at 16.6 cases per 100,000 people. The three most common forms of cancer for women are cancer of the breast, colon and cervix.
Among Israeli Arab women the rate of thyroid cancer is 11.6 cases per 100,000, and it is the third most common cancer.
From 1990 to 2007 there was a 67-percent rise in thyroid cancer rates among Jewish women, and a 250 percent increase among Arab women, Health Ministry figures show. For men, the rise from 2000 is more moderate, but still shows a 41 percent increase in thyroid cancer rates for Jewish men.
"One of the explanations is that the rise is related to better technical methods of early detection of these growths, which have been developed in recent years. But other research shows that even after neutralizing this influence a rise in these growths still remains," said Feinmesser.
Just this week it was reported that mobile operator Partner Communications (Orange ) reached a settlement with a customer who claims he contracted cancer after using the company's cellphones. The customer, who is in his 50s, sued Partner in May, claiming that intensive use of the device resulted in an aggressive lymphoma near his left ear. Partner agreed to pay NIS 400,000 in an out-of-court settlement.
LOS ANGELES- Los Angeles Department of Water and Power (LADWP) has terminated electricity to the family of a middle school teacher, her husband, and their six children for refusing to have a smart meter on their home, which they say caused their family serious health problems.
Swisscom AG, a major telecommunications provider in Switzerland, filed U.S. and international patent applications for an innovative system to reduce “electrosmog” from wireless local networks (i.e., Wi-Fi) in 2003.
This patent application acknowledged the cancer risk from exposure to wireless radiation eight years before the WHO’s International Agency for Research on Cancer declared that radiofrequency energy, including cell phone and Wi-Fi radiation, is a “possible carcinogen” to humans, like DDT and lead.
Furthermore, the application acknowledged that low-intensity, non-thermal exposures to wireless radiation is genotoxic. This is critical because the current U.S. regulatory standard for wireless radiation, established in 1996, does not protect us from non-thermal exposures.
According to this 2003 patent application, the “influence of electrosmog on the human body is a known problem."
American Academy of Environmental Medicine 6505 E Central • Ste 296 • Wichita, KS 67206 Tel: (316) 684-5500 • Fax: (316) 684-5709
March 19, 2013
Los Angeles Unified School District 333 S Beaudry Ave #24 Los Angeles, CA 90017
The American Academy of Environmental Medicine comprises Medical Doctors, Osteopaths and PhD researchers focusing on the effects of environmental agents on human health. For forty years the Academy has trained Physicians to treat the most difficult, to heal patients who are often overlooked by our medical system because the cause of their illness is a chemical, solvent, or toxic metal, not a bacteria, virus or other traditionally understood cause.
In recent years our members and colleagues have reported an increase in patients whose symptoms are reversible by eliminating wireless radiating devices in their homes such as cell phones, cordless phones and wireless internet systems. There is consistent emerging science that shows people, especially children are affected by the increasing exposure to wireless radiation. In September 2010, the Journal of the American Society for Reproductive Medicine ‐ Fertility and Sterility reported that only four hours of exposure to a standard laptop using WiFi caused DNA damage to human sperm.
In May 2011, the World Health Organization elevated exposure to wireless radiation, including WiFi, onto the Class 2b list of Carcinogens. In October 2012, the AAEM issued a public warning about WiFi in schools that stated:
“Adverse health effects from wireless radio frequency fields, such as learning disabilities, altered immune responses, and headaches, clearly exist and are well documented in the scientific literature. Safer technology, such as use of hardwiring, is strongly recommended in schools.”
In December 2012, the American Academy of Pediatrics ‐ representing 60,000 pediatricians, wrote to Congress requesting it update the safety levels of microwave radiation exposure especially for children and pregnant women.
The WiFi systems in schools are typically hundreds of times more powerful than the home consumer systems you may be familiar with. They are also dozens of times more powerful than the cafe and restaurant systems you may have been exposed to. The WiFi systems in schools are necessarily more powerful than any microwave communication systems in any other setting because they are required to run hundreds of computers simultaneously. They are also exposing children ‐ the Los Angeles Unified School District most vulnerable to microwave radiation ‐ to extended periods all day, for their entire childhood.
This is an unprecedented exposure with unknown outcome on the health and reproductive potential of a generation.
To install this system in Los Angeles risks a widespread public health question that the medical system is not yet prepared to answer.
In October 2013, the AAEM is organizing an international medical conference in Phoenix AZ to teach doctors how to identify patients whose symptoms can be reversed by eliminating exposure to WiFi, cell phones and other forms of wireless radiation in the home.
It is unlikely that there are currently enough doctors in Los Angeles County familiar with the biological effects of microwave radiation to diagnose and treat the numbers of children who will potentially become symptomatic from exposure to your wireless system should you elect to install it. Statistics show that you can expect an immediate reaction in 3% of your students and time‐delayed reactions in 30% of them. This will also include teachers.
The American Academy of Environmental Medicine suggests strongly that you do not add to the burden of public health by installing blanket wireless internet connections in Los Angeles schools. Hardwired internet connections are not only safer, they are stronger, and more secure. Children who are required by law to attend school also require a higher level of protection than the general public. You may be directed by technology proponents that the science on the human health effects of WiFi is not yet certain. This uncertainty is not a reason to subject a generation of children to such extreme exposure. Rather, it is the foundation upon which caution must be exercised to prevent a potential public health disaster.
While technicians and sales staff argue about the validity of the dangers posed by cell towers, cell phones, WiFi and other forms of wireless radiation, it is the doctors who must deal with the fall out. Until we, as doctors, can determine why some of our patients become debilitatingly sick from WiFi and other microwave communications, while others do not, we implore you not to take such a known risk with the health of so many children who have entrusted you to keep them safe while at school.
Respectfully, The Executive Committee of the American Academy of Environmental Medicine http://aaemonline.org/images/LettertoLAUSD.pdf
