New Studies Does Cellular Radiation Cause Deadly Brain Tumors?

How do mobile phones affect brain tumors??

There has been talk for some time now about whether cell phones increase the risk of brain tumors. Evidence has now been presented that the rate of a malignant tumor type has doubled in the last two decades. This finding reinforces discussions about the health risk posed by cell phones.

Scientists at the Physicians' Health Initiative for Radiation and Environment (PHIRE) found in their current research that the rate of malignant tumor has doubled in the last two decades. This raises the question of whether the use of mobile phones can lead to brain tumors. The physicians published the results of their study in the English-language journal "Journal of Public Health and Environment".

Study triggers controversy

Charities and scientists have called on governments to pay attention to warnings about the dangers of cell phone radiation after the current analysis uncovered a truly alarming trend in cancer. The study also sparked controversy among scientists. Some experts thought that brain tumors could have been caused by other factors.

Significant increase in cases of glioblastoma multiforme

The research team began investigating the increase in an aggressive and often fatal brain tumor known as glioblastoma (glioblastoma multiforme). In their study, the experts analyzed a total of 79,241 malignant brain tumors within 21 years. So they could find that cases of this brain tumor in England have greatly increased. In 1995, there were about 1,250 diseases per year, now there are nearly 3,000 cases per year, say the doctors.

Rate of tumors in the temporal lobe increases strongly

The study is the first recent research of its kind to analyze in detail the incidence of various types of malignant tumors. The physicians explained to the results of the study that the strong increase of the illnesses at these brain tumors had been covered so far by the general decrease of the incidence of other brain tumor types. The increasing rate of tumors in the so-called temporal lobe (anterior temporal lobe) raises the suspicion that the use of cell phones and cordless phones could promote glioma, experts explain.

Various studies have yielded contradictory results

The findings show that the mechanisms behind these cancer trends need to be further explored, rather than disguising the causal link with detectable factors, the researchers explain. In 2015, a scientific committee concluded that epidemiological studies on the exposure of radiofrequency electromagnetic radiation to mobile phones do not show an overall increased risk of brain tumors or other forms of head and neck cancer. However, there was also a study last year that showed that the use of cell phones and cordless phones tripled the risk of brain tumors, although this was in contradiction to other similar investigations. According to Cancer Research UK, cell phones are unlikely to increase the risk of brain tumors, but there is not enough information to completely eliminate such risk.

Further investigations are necessary

The organization also warns that mobile phones are a relatively new invention and it could take many more years for enough data to be collected and evaluated to make more robust conclusions. The increase in cases of brain tumors indicates something worth investigating, say the experts. Various studies in other parts of the world have found similar increases in cases of brain tumors, physicians explain.

These factors could also cause the increase

It is important to note that the current study has not analyzed new data on possible causes of the increase in cancer cases. The new study also lists other causal factors besides cell phone use that could explain the trend of increasing brain tumors, including X-rays, CT scans, and the effects of atomic bomb tests, the authors add. (As)