Mobile phones boost brain tumor risk by up to 270 percent on side of brain where phone is held

Thursday, February 22, 2007 by: M. T. Whitney
Tags: mobile phones, brain tumors, glioma

(NewsTarget) Using a cell phone regularly – even a modern one – raises the risk of developing a brain tumor for many users, a new Finnish study published online in the International Journal of Cancer. The study, done by a collection of researchers from many universities and led by Anna Lahkola of the Radiation and Nuclear Safety Authority in Finland, found firm corollary evidence that using a cell phone causes the risk of getting a brain tumor called a glioma to rise by 40 to 270 percent on the side of the head preferred for using the phone.

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What you need to know - Conventional View

• The study compared 1,521 cellular phone users who received a glioma to 3,301 control participants without tumors.

• For people who have used a modern cellular phone for more than 2000 hours in their lifetime, the risk of getting a brain tumor rose by 270 percent.

• The study is considered the second that firmly correlates cell phone usage with an increased risk of developing certain brain tumors.

• The risk was highest among people under the age of 20.

• Older-style analog cell phones already have been shown as a source of brain tumors, but even with the development of digital cellular phones, the risk is still there.

• According to a scientist associated with the web site foodconsumer.org, the study results should not make readers assume that ten years of cell phone use will correlate to an immediate tumor, but that the tumor will show up later than that.

What you need to know - Alternative View

• Mobile phone manufacturers have tried to suppress the dangers of mobile phones by funding their own distorted research that concludes the phones are perfectly safe.

• All people -- but children and teens especially -- should be warned against using mobile phones due to the increased risk of brain tumors.

Bottom line

• Cell phone usage is shown to increase your risk of a brain tumor.

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