Cell phone radiation jacks up brain activity according to report

Cell Phone Radiation Stimulates Brain

Cell phone radiation emitted from the devices' antennas have been shown in a study to stimulate brain activity to a high level. The findings of the study, which appeared Tuesday in the Journal of the American Medical Association, is raising fresh concerns about the impact of cell phone use to our health.

The team of researchers led by Dr. Nora Volkow used positron emission tomography or PET scan on 47 participants and found out that electromagnetic radiation from cell phones indeed stimulate brain cells, contrary to other theories. Now, the researchers said it is only practical to know if such long-term exposure to cell phone radiation is detrimental to health.

"Because there's been such a massive expansion in cell phone use these past 15 to 20 years, it behooves us to try to understand whether, if we use these devices repeatedly and intensively for years, do they have lasting effects?," said Dr. Volkow.

Even though the study shows proof that radiation stimulates brain activity, it does not prove that radiation from mobile devices can cause brain tumors or cancer.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration's official stance on the matter is that cell phones can cause harm due to the heat produced by the device and not directly by electromagnetic radiation, citing other studies.

Researchers involved in this particular study said the location of the antenna corresponds to the area of the brain that showed increased activity.

They said more research is needed to clearly establish whether or not the spike in brain activity during cell phone use is harmless, or if we have been compromising our health by being exposed all the time to cell phone radiation.

Posted by George Daniels on Wednesday February 23 2011, 4:25 AM EST. Ref: LA Times. All trademarks acknowledged. Filed under Featured News, Health. Comments and Trackbacks closed. Follow responses: RSS 2.0