Friday, November 22, 2024

Studies that contradict each other

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Maria Gill
Maria Gill
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  • Follow-up of 800,000 women over 10 years in the UK shows no increased risk of brain tumors associated with mobile phone use
  • Follow-up of 800,000 women over 10 years in the UK shows no increased risk of brain tumors associated with mobile phone use
  • Previous studies have shown that the risk of brain tumors associated with mobile phones exists for daily use of 17 minutes for 10 years
  • The International Agency for Research on Cancer considers the link between cell phones and brain tumors possible

This is a study that will undoubtedly get people talking. Because it addresses a controversial topic, the potential danger of mobile phone waves, and above all because it presents conclusions that are inconsistent with other work on the same topic. If we want to believe Journal of the National Cancer Institute (JNCI) which publishes research conducted by Oxford scholarsCell phone use cannot cause a brain tumor.

20 minutes of use per week

According to this study of nearly 800,000 women born between 1935 and 1950 that asked about their health data and habits regarding mobile phone use for the first time in 2001 and again in 2011, the risk of developing a brain tumor increased. Compared to people who never use a mobile phone, that would be “statistically insignificant”. This is over 10 years and for users who talk at least 20 minutes a week.

This is what, if not contradictory, in any way mitigates the impact of the situation on this topic of the International Agency for Research on Cancer (a structure based on the World Health Organization). While British researchers noted in 2011 a 39% increase in brain tumors over the past 20 years, the International Agency for Research on Cancer confirmed that the increasingly common use of mobile phones could be one possible cause, classifying electromagnetic radiation fields as “likely to be carcinogenic.”

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Other studies are less reassuring

“Using these phones in mild conditions does not increase the risk of brain tumors,” answers Today Kirstin Pirtie, a JNCI study co-author. Certainty will not necessarily be shared. Nor by associations that are currently concerned about the potential health consequences of 5G deployment. And even less by other scholars, for example These academics from Berkeley, CA who were in the spotlight in July 2021 The risk of developing tumors increased by 60% for those who used their phones for 17 minutes a day. Admittedly, this duration of use is much higher than that adopted by the Oxford researchers study, but this increase in risk appears significant!

To reach this most disturbing finding, the Berkeley scientists explained that the interference between mobile phone signals and cellular mechanisms caused the formation of “stress proteins” capable of causing DNA damage, conclusions based on an analysis of more than 40 studies conducted in various countries such as the United States United Kingdom, Sweden, Japan and New Zealand.

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