This article is part three in a series of articles on electromagnetic field (EMF) pollution. Part one is available
. This article will focus on wireless RF radiation and systemic EMF health effects.
Chronic diseases have many potential causes, including genetics, deficient diet, toxin exposure, and repressed emotional expression. Research has mounted over the past two decades in support of adding EMF exposure to the top-level list of causes of chronic disease (including genome/DNA damage). It's likely that a chronic disease condition results from a unique and individual combination of these top-level stressors, so EMF exposure should be considered in the context of other source causes, as suggested in Figure 1.
Waugh goes on to relate more recent concerns voiced by numerous doctors and health researchers:
It is amazing that after so many scientists, doctors, epidemiologists, and researchers expressed their concerns, the cell phone industry (and media) has sustained public doubt and ignorance over the dangers of cell phones, and wireless devices in general (examples shown in Figure 2).
This general attitude towards cell phone safety has contributed to the proliferation of wireless devices we see in homes today. All of these devices have been implicated in the health issues of both people and animals. Anecdotal accounts are useful because they describe real-life situations in the presence and absence of these devices. Here are a few from Waugh's book
- An article in The Independent on Sunday, April 22, 2007, reported that the new owner of a house in Bath, England, moved in and found 30 nests of bees in the attic. The bees seemed to be everywhere, in the shower, the widows, and the light fixtures. On two separate occasions the owner solicited the help of professional exterminators, but the bees kept coming back. When the owner installed a Wi-Fi system in the home, the bees left and never returned.
- A dairy-farming couple living in the Midwest of the United States experienced considerable suffering over a period of 12 years when a cellphone tower was installed on a neighbor's property, approximately 240 meters (800 feet) from their house. Over a period of months, the cows became emaciated and agitated, their coats rough to the touch. The couple's children developed skin rashes and unusual raised hot spots. They also experienced recurring kidney infections. While the younger two children became dramatically hyperactive, the older children complained of foggy thinking and concentration problems. The adults began to suffer with sleep difficulties and the mother developed joint pain. Following informed advice, the couple moved away from their farm and the cellphone tower that had become a hub for the entire state. Three months after moving everyone began to feel better, including the heifers they had kept after selling the rest of the herd. For financial reasons the family subsequently returned to their farm and the suffering started all over again. The children lost weight and two of them began to lose their hair. A son born after the move was born with birth defects that did not fit any particular syndrome. Calves, too, were born with defects, such as front legs shorter than the back and deformed hooves, and some were born with huge tumors. The couple, their children and their cows are doing well after leaving their farm again and buying another in an electromagnetically safe area.
- A dog was lame in the two front legs and a hind leg. An acupuncture diagnosis revealed stress typical of radio- frequency radiation. When the cordless phone was removed from the home the lameness disappeared. The dog suffered a relapse when he was taken to a house with a cordless phone for a short time but quickly recovered when he was returned home.
- A horse suffered with lameness in the right ankle and X-rays showed no arthritis. An acupuncture examination pointed to radio-frequency radiation as a probable cause. When the cordless phone was removed from the house, the horse's symptoms subsided within a few days and did not return.
- A young dog suffered with chronic diarrhea and dysfunction of the thyroid gland. A number of different treatments were unsuccessful. As a test, the cordless phone was removed from the home and the dog's health returned. Blood tests were taken to confirm the normal functioning of the thyroid and the diarrhea has not returned.
- A cat was being treated for a skin disease on the outside of the ear with a variety of salves and treatments to no avail. A few days after the removal of the cordless phone from the home the skin condition began to heal, followed by a full recovery.
- A cat owner reported increasingly aggressive behavior which calmed considerably when the cordless phone was disconnected.
- For a number of years some of the animals in a stable suffered with chronic diarrhea. The usual suspects were addressed including a change in feed, a check for parasites and an analysis of the drinking water. An acupuncture analysis of the horses indicated possible radio-frequency-radiation problems. The diarrhea disappeared when the cordless telephones nearby were removed.
- In a presentation to the Beekeepers Association in Glastonbury, England, in 2008 Barrie Trower, a physicist, teacher and microwave research scientist stated, 'It seems that this scenario follows the worldwide proliferation of the Communications Industry. I can no longer find a trouble-free country where mobile phones, Wi-Fi, TETRA, Bluetooth, etc, are being used.'
One study clearly showing the footprint of cell-related EMF health effects (including electronic smog - ES) was conducted by a group of medical doctors in Oberfranken
4, Germany, who were interested in a clustering of confusing symptoms among their patients. The number of people participating in the study was 356. Radio frequency (RF) cell tower power density (including DECT cordless phones) was measured at each residence, and this data was correlated with reported symptoms, broken into seven groups.
Figure 3 shows the results in compact form. The symptoms at the bottom of the figure show grouping by pathology in the seven groups, with the first group categorized as 'no symptoms'. The remaining six groups list symptoms that are generally recognized as ES-related when they occur together in some individuals. The study produced data for the percentage of reports in these symptom groups as a function of exposure to four ranges of measured RF power density. The bar chart below is color coded for ease of interpretation. The four measured ranges varied from less than 10 microW/m2 to greater than 1000 microW/m2 (spanning 3 orders of magnitude). The color code to the right of the bar graph indicates the number of participant residences exposed to that range of RF power density.
Looking at the four bars in Group 1, we see that 70% of the 37 individuals reported no symptoms for power densities less than 10 microW/m2 (green bar). The remaining 30% reported symptoms in one or more of the other groups, with the notable exception of Group 6 [note: the percentages do not add up to 100% since an individual might report symptoms in two or more groups]. Looking at those four Group 1 bars again, the drop in symptom-free reports with increasing RF power density is dramatic - at levels greater that 1000 microW/m2 (red bar), the symptom-free reports drop to 2% (with 99 participants in that group). Groups 2 through 7 show significant increases in symptom reports that are highly correlated with the RF power density of exposure. The two highest symptom groups reported are Groups 2 and 3. These are the most common symptoms associated with all EMF exposure and are often reported together. Figure 3 clearly shows the EMF footprint for cell phone base station radiation, and provides rationale for an RF exposure limit of 10 microW/m2 (this is .001 microW/cm2, or 1 nanoW/cm2 and corresponds to an electric field strength of .06 V/meter).
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Figure 3 Results of a study conducted by a group of German doctors to investigate the connection between cell base station power density and common symptoms among their patients. [Adapted from powerwatch.org 4]
Dr. Cornelia Waldmann Selsam, representing this group of German medical doctors, sent these results in report form, and as an Open Letter
5, to Edmund Stoiber, Prime Minister of Bavaria in Germany. In the Forward to this Open Letter she states:
"These reports show that the people for years have been ill due to pulsed high frequency electromagnetic fields, without the treating doctors recognizing the cause. For that reason, people who are receiving the high frequency at home or at work have suffered and are suffering and they receive no therapy. The deciding [effective] therapy is to end the exposure.
The continually repeated assertion in the media by the Radiological Protection Commission (Strahlenschutzkommission), that there is no proof for health risks under the present valid limits, has had the consequence that most doctors, (including myself until a year ago) have not drawn a relationship between the many unexplained illness patterns and high frequency radiation. The doctors do not know that at not one single mobile phone base station have investigations into the health-state of the people been carried out. Thus, the evaluation of the Strahlenschutzkommission in 2001 has no scientific basis."
Two prominent German doctors joined Selsam in authoring another Open Letter, dated Feb 12, 2009, to the US President, Congress, Senate, and the American People titled
Warning Against Adverse Health Effects from the Operation of Digital Broadcast Television Stations (DVB‐T)6. Obviously it did not make headlines in the US nor did it slow the (now complete) installation of pulsed HDTV broadcast stations throughout the US.
EMF Mechanisms and Negative Actions on the Body/Mind
In Selsam's Open Letter6 to the US, she made reference to a 1992 statement by Rüdiger Matthes:
"In 1992, Dipl.‐Ing. Rüdiger Matthes, member of ICNIRP and of the German Radiation Protection Agency (BfS), emphasized the preliminary status of the exposure limits in a hearing on the health risks of electromagnetic radiation: '...They (electromagnetic exposure levels) are several orders of magnitude higher than the natural background radiation levels of nontechnical sources...In parallel to this development, findings of scientific studies according to which long‐term exposure to such fields may trigger adverse health effects keep accumulating....In this context, it is also important to recognize that there are large differences in exposure levels within a given population. A small child, for example, absorbs much more RF energy than an adult person...There are several findings on low‐level exposures, which are considered scientifically validated because they have been reproduced often but which are rather difficult to interpret. The impact of mostly pulsed or ELF modulated RF radiation on cell metabolism, for example, counts among them. It has been observed that the efflux of certain ions (e.g. calcium) from a cell increases during exposure to such fields. The occurrence of this effect is described almost completely independent of the actual field strength. It can be found at extremely low absorption levels....With all the currently available scientific findings, there remain some crucial questions unanswered. ...There are gaps in the so‐called body of evidence. That means that the biological effects, for example, have only been investigated for individual frequencies. Data (e.g. effect thresholds) on the various biological effects across the entire frequency spectrum are not available.'."
So all the way back in 1992 there were warnings that even very low levels of pulsed RF radiation could detrimentally affect subtle metabolic functions at the cellular level. It was also known that growing children absorb far more of the RF energy than do adults. And yet this information was not enough to motivate application of the Precautionary Principle to stem the tide of commercialization of our RF environment.
Although German scientists and doctors have lead the way in identifying pulsed RF exposure as a cause for human illness, Germany today is no better off with regard to the proliferation of pulsed RF communications. In October 2002 a large group of German physicians and medical professionals (now comprising 3,000 endorsements) signed the Freiburger Appeal7. This was prepared, in part, to address the irresponsible "safety limits policy", with respect to pulsed RF communications, of the German Government, and the fact that the German courts were led to regard the danger as "purely hypothetical". Reproduced in full, the Appeal states:
"Out of great concern for the health of our fellow human beings do we - as established physicians of all fields, especially that of environmental medicine - turn to the medical establishment and those in public health and political domains, as well as to the public.
We have observed, in recent years, a dramatic rise in severe and chronic diseases among our patients, especially:
- Learning, concentration, and behavioural [sic] disorders (e.g. attention deficit disorder, ADD)
- Extreme fluctuations in blood pressure, ever harder to influence with medications
- Heart rhythm disorders
- Heart attacks and strokes among an increasingly younger population
- Brain-degenerative diseases (e.g. Alzheimer's) and epilepsy
- Cancerous afflictions: leukemia, brain tumors
Moreover, we have observed an ever-increasing occurrence of various disorders, often misdiagnosed in patients as psychosomatic:
- Headaches, migraines
- Chronic exhaustion
- Inner agitation
- Sleeplessness, daytime sleepiness
- Tinnitus
- Susceptibility to infection
- Nervous and connective tissue pains, for which the usual causes do not explain even the most conspicuous symptoms
Since the living environment and lifestyles of our patients are familiar to us, we can see especially after carefully-directed inquiry a clear temporal and spatial correlation between the appearance of disease and exposure to pulsed high -frequency microwave radiation (HFMR), such as:
- Installation of a mobile telephone sending station in the near vicinity
- Intensive mobile telephone use
- Installation of a digital cordless (DECT) telephone at home or in the neighborhood [sic]
We can no longer believe this to be purely coincidence, for:
- Too often do we observe a marked concentration of particular illnesses in correspondingly HFMR-polluted areas or apartments;
- Too often does a long-term disease or affliction improve or disappear in a relatively short time after reduction or elimination of HFMR pollution in the patient's environment;
- Too often are our observations confirmed by on-site measurements of HFMR of unusual intensity
On the basis of our daily experiences, we hold the current mobile communications technology (introduced in 1992 and since then globally extensive) and cordless digital telephones (DECT standard) to be among the fundamental triggers for this fatal development. One can no longer evade these pulsed microwaves. They heighten the risk of already-present chemical/physical influences, stress the body's immune system, and can bring the body's still-functioning regulatory mechanisms to a halt. Pregnant women, children, adolescents, elderly and sick people are especially at risk.
Our therapeutic efforts to restore health are becoming increasingly less effective: the unimpeded and continuous penetration of radiation into living and working areas particularly bedrooms, an essential place for relaxation, regeneration and healing causes uninterrupted stress and prevents the patient's thorough recovery.
In the face of this disquieting development, we feel obliged to inform the public of our observations especially since hearing that the German courts regard any danger from mobile telephone radiation as 'purely hypothetical' (see the decisions of the constitutional court in Karlsruhe and the administrative court in Mannheim, Spring 2002).
What we experience in the daily reality of our medical practice is anything but hypothetical!
We see the rising number of chronically sick patients also as the result of an irresponsible 'safety limits' policy, which fails to take the protection of the public from the short- and long-term effects of mobile telephone radiation as its criterion for action. Instead, it submits to the dictates of a technology already long recognized as dangerous. For us, this is the beginning of a very serious development through which the health of many people is being threatened.
We will no longer be made to wait upon further unreal research results - which in our experience are often influenced by the communications industry while evidential studies go on being ignored. We find it to be of urgent necessity that we act now!
Above all, we are, as doctors, the advocates for our patients. In the interest of all those concerned, whose basic right to life and freedom from bodily harm is currently being put at stake, we appeal to those in the spheres of politics and public health.
Please support the following demands with your influence:
New health-friendly communications techniques, given independent risk assessments before their introduction and, as immediate measures and transitional steps:
- Stricter safety limits and major reduction of sender output and HFMR pollution on a justifiable scale, especially in areas of sleep and convalescence
- A say on the part of local citizens and communities regarding the placing of antennae (which in a democracy should be taken for granted)
- Education of the public, especially of mobile telephone users, regarding the health risks of electromagnetic fields
- Ban on mobile telephone use by small children, and restrictions on use by adolescents
- Ban on mobile telephone use and digital cordless (DECT) telephones in preschools, schools, hospitals, nursing homes, events halls, public buildings and vehicles (as with the ban on smoking)
- Mobile telephone and HFMR-free zones (as with auto-free areas)
- Revision of DECT standards for cordless telephones with the goal of reducing radiation intensity and limiting actual use time, as well as avoiding the biologically critical HFMR pulsation
- Industry-independent research, finally with the inclusion of amply available critical research results and our medical observations.
This is a powerful statement, made all the more powerful by the 3,000 German physicians and medical professionals that have endorsed it since October 2002. Here the German doctors have outlined the major diseases they have encountered, as well as a host of symptoms that have (since) been clearly linked with EMF exposure.
Waugh2 ,summarizing many past studies, has this to say regarding the cellular-level and immune system reactions to pulsed RF:
- The cell senses electromagnetic radiation from a cellphone or a wireless device of a frequency that does not occur in nature and considers itself to be under attack.
- The cell adopts a defensive posture and proceeds to close down the active transport channels that allow nutrients in and waste out.
- The cell becomes nutrient deficient, which leads to energy deficiency and the inability to communicate with the cells around it, resulting in a disruption of intercellular communication, impairment of the immune system and acute symptoms.
- The cell is unable to expel waste material and a buildup of highly reactive molecules, known as free radicals, develops.
- Free radicals disrupt the functioning of the mitochondria (where respiratory functioning of the cell takes place) and the cell is unable to do its job properly. For example, dysfunctional cells in the blood-brain barrier protecting the brain cause leakage of toxins into the brain's pristine habitat.
- Free radicals then interfere with DNA (deoxyribonucleic acid) repair inside the cell and micronuclei are formed from the pieces of DNA, which then form membranes around themselves and have no further purpose.
- Micronuclei are not harmful if they are kept within the cell; however, if during programmed cell death the cell membrane collapses, the micronuclei are expelled into the interstitial fluid between the cells.
- If everything were working as it should and intercellullar communication was good, the immune system would be able to deal with the wild DNA.
- With the intercellular communication disrupted the micronuclei are free to clone and proliferate in the nutrient-rich interstitial fluid, which is the mechanism for the formation of a tumor, chronic disease and cancer.
In a recent paper by Dr Magda Havas
8,
"Recent studies have demonstrated that radio-frequency fields can have a multiplicity of carcinogenic roles by directly influencing DNA damage, inhibiting the DNA repair mechanism, affecting gene expression, and increasing the permeability of cells to allow a greater uptake of harmful materials."
Regarding EMF effects on the nervous system, Waugh summarizes:
"Laboratory studies and field observations show that the nervous system, the brain, and nerves leading to various parts of the body, in both humans and animals, are sensitive to low- and high-frequency electromagnetic radiation. People exposed to cellphone radiation can experience a change in brainwave activity. Studies have shown that radiation exposure at these frequencies can affect memory and learning and low-level radiation can change behavior in humans and animals. There is strong and relatively consistent evidence of a link between these radiation frequencies and neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) and motor neuron disease. In the case of Alzheimer's disease, it has been found that exposure to low-frequency radiation can increase levels of amyloid beta in the brain. ... Power- and radio-frequency radiation is also thought to suppress the function of the pineal gland, a small gland located deep within the brain that secretes the hormone melatonin. Melatonin is believed to protect the brain against damage leading to Alzheimer's disease and inhibit the growth of cancer in the body, among other benefits."
With regard to Wi-Fi, Waugh cites Dr Magda Havas:
"According to Dr. Havas, biological effects have been documented at radiation levels well below those that are able to heat body tissue, including increased permeability of the blood-brain barrier, increased calcium flux, increase in cancer and DNA breaks, induced stress proteins and nerve damage. She asserts that exposure to this type of radiation has been associated with altered white blood cells in schoolchildren; childhood leukemia; impaired motor function, reaction time, and memory; headaches; dizziness; fatigue; weakness; and insomnia."
Havas
8 also showed extreme heart rate variability (HRV) in some subjects exposed to a DECT cordless phone signal at power densities only 0.5% of Canadian and US guidelines (3-5 microW/cm
2). From the paper's abstract:
"Aim: The effect of pulsed (100 Hz) microwave (MW) radiation on heart rate variability (HRV) was tested in a double blind study. Materials and Methods: Twenty-five subjects in Colorado between the ages of 37 to 79 completed an electrohypersensitivity (EHS) questionnaire. After recording their orthostatic HRV, we did continuous real-time monitoring of HRV in a provocation study, where supine subjects were exposed for 3-minute intervals to radiation generated by a cordless phone at 2.4 GHz or to sham exposure.
Results: Questionnaire: Based on self-assessments, participants classified themselves as extremely electrically sensitive (24%), moderately (16%), slightly (16%), not sensitive (8%) or with no opinion (36%) about their sensitivity. The top 10 symptoms experienced by those claiming to be sensitive include memory problems, difficulty concentrating, eye problems, sleep disorder, feeling unwell, headache, dizziness, tinnitus, chronic fatigue, and heart palpitations. The five most common objects allegedly causing sensitivity were fluorescent lights [AC magnetic fields], antennas, cell phones, Wi-Fi, and cordless phones.
Provocation Experiment: Forty percent of the subjects experienced some changes in their HRV attributable to digitally pulsed (100 Hz) MW radiation. For some the response was extreme (tachycardia), for others moderate to mild (changes in sympathetic nervous system and/or parasympathetic nervous system, and for some there was no observable reaction either because of high adaptive capacity or because of systemic neurovegetative exhaustion. Conclusions: Orthostatic HRV combined with provocation testing may provide a diagnostic test for some EHS sufferers when they are exposed to electromagnetic emitting devices. This is the first study that documents immediate and dramatic changes in both Hearth [sic] Rate (HR) and HR variability (HRV) associated with MW exposure at levels well below (0.5%) federal guidelines in Canada and the United States (1000 microW/cm2)."
From the same paper
8:
"Our results clearly show a causal relationship between pulsed 100 Hz MW exposure and changes in the ANS [autonomic nervous system] that is physiological rather than psychological and that may explain at least some of the symptoms experienced by those sensitive to electromagnetic frequencies. Dysfunction of the ANS can lead to heart irregularities (arrhythmia, palpitations, flutter), altered blood pressure, dizziness, nausea, fatigue, sleep disturbances, profuse sweating and fainting spells, which are some of the symptoms of EHS. When the SNS [sympathetic nervous system] (fight or flight response) is stimulated and the PSNS [parasympathetic nervous system] (rest and digest) is suppressed the body is in a state of arousal and uses more energy. If this is a constant state of affairs, the subject may become tired and may have difficulty sleeping (unable to relax because of a down regulated PSNS and/or up regulated SNS). Interestingly, Sandstrom found a disturbed pattern of circadian rhythms of HRV and the absence of the expected HF [high frequency] (parasympathetic) power-spectrum component during sleep in persons who perceived themselves as being electrically hypersensitive. If the dysfunction of the ANS is intermittent it may be experienced as anxiety and/or panic attacks, and if the vagus nerve is affected it may lead to dizziness and/or nausea. Our results show that the SNS is up regulated (increase in LF [low frequency]) and the PSNS is down regulated (decrease in HF) for some of the subjects during provocation. The greatest increase is in LF2, which is the adrenal stress response, although LF1 also increases. We do not know the degree to which this is due to the 100 Hz pulse, the MW carrier, or their combination."
These are deeply disturbing results because they show effects at the very heart of our regulatory systems; circadian, adrenal, fight/flight, nervous/brain, etc. This is likely to make a neuro-chemical mess of us if the exposure becomes long-term (as is increasingly the case today). It certainly seems to serve the medical-industrial complex, which is only too happy to produce pills to buffer all the headaches, dizziness, and insomnia.
In the spring of 2004 the community of Rimbach (Lower Bavaria) received cell service for the first time with the installation of a cell base station on Buchberg Mountain9. Some prescient researchers decided that this was an ideal opportunity to study the residents both before and after the installation. The total number of participants was small (60) but the testing was extensive, and the results clearly show the long-term effect of the base station's presence. Figure 4 shows the before/after symptom response of the residents associated with the dates January 2004 and July 2005 (more than a year after installation of the base station).
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Figure 4 Symptoms reported by all participants both before and after activation of the cell base station – also shown are the measured power densities at the residences. [Adapted from Buchner 9]
All 60 participants fell into roughly equal groups of three power density levels as shown in the figure. Again, we see clearly the increase in reported symptoms after base station activation. This is very significant since the base station had, at that point, only been operational for about 16 months. The bound on the lower range of power density at the residence is 60 microW/m
2 or .006 microW/cm
2 (or 6 nanoW/cm
2).
The most important results of their study were found in the periodic blood tests of the participants. From their paper9(emphasis mine):
"This follow-up of 60 participants over one and a half years shows a significant effect on the adrenergic system after the installation of a new cell phone base station in the village of Rimbach (Bavaria).After the activation of the GSM base station, the levels of the stress hormones adrenaline and noradrenaline increased significantly during the first six months; the levels of the precursor dopamine decreased substantially. The initial levels were not restored even after one and a half years. As an indicator of the dysregulated chronic imbalance of the stress system, the phenylethylamine (PEA) levels dropped significantly until the end of the study period. The effects showed a dose-response relationship and occurred well below current limits for technical RF radiation exposures. Chronic dysregulation of the catecholamine system has great relevance for health and is well known to damage human health in the long run. [...]
There is a wide range of evidence to interpret the newly emerging microwave exposures as an invisible stressor. Microwaves are absorbed by living tissue. The frequencies used for cell phone technologies have a half-life penetration depth of several centimeters, whereby cell membranes constitute no obstacle. Microwaves cause enzymes to malfunction directly by, for example, monomerization. Thus, it is conceivable that enzymes of the catecholamine system could be affected directly.
In industry, more and more microwave devices are being used for chemical peptoid syntheses, which allow for a 100 times faster and more precise production even without any measurable heating [Current US exposure limits are based on threshold heating of the flesh]. The toxic effects of free radicals formed by microwaves are used in such technical applications as water purification.
In several studies, the chronic symptoms of residents near cell tower antennas were described. Interestingly, the expansion of wireless networks corresponds with the increase in prescription expenses for methylphenidate, a drug whose chemical structure is related to PEA and which is indicated in cases of attention deficit disorder (ADD). ... (Note 1: Decreased PEA levels can be found in a large portion of ADD/ADHD patients. As therapy methylphenidate is used, a substance that is structurally related to PEA. Between 1990 and 2004, the boom time of cell phones, prescription costs for this medication had increased by a factor of 86.)
Long-term studies over five years suggested an increased cancer incidence due to microwave exposure. Since the catecholamine system is directly linked with the nervous system within the psychoneuroimmunological framework beside its organ-specific effects, the observed increase in cancer incidence can now also be understood from a pathophysiological perspective." [see their paper9 for detailed references]
And their conclusion:
"Thus, the following hypothesis is proposed: Although participants maintained their usual lifestyle, they developed chronic stress with a primary increase in adrenaline/noradrenaline and a subsequent decrease in dopamine in response to the microwave exposure from the newly installed cell phone base station. During the stage of counterregulation, the "trace amine" PEA decreases and remains decreased.
This is of considerable clinical relevance because psychiatric symptoms also exhibit altered PEA levels. In Rimbach, the increase in sleep problems, cephalgia, vertigo, concentration problems, and allergies could be clinically documented after the cell phone base station had been activated. The newly developed symptoms can be explained clinically with the help of disturbances in the humoral stress axis.
After having exhausted the biological feedback mechanisms, major health problems are to be expected. The possible long-term consequences of remaining caught in the exhaustion stage have already been described by Hecht and Selye.
Thus, the significant results presented here not only provide clear evidence for health-relevant effects in the study subjects of Rimbach after a new GSM base station had been installed there, but they also offer the opportunity to carry out a causal analysis. This has already been successfully done in the "shut-down study" of Schwarzenburg, Switzerland. In Rimbach, the documented levels should return to normal once the relevant base station is shut down."
In the Rimbach data, once again, we have a rare study that clearly shows the wireless EMF footprint in the development of pathological disease conditions - as well as some detailed mechanisms.
Henshaw10, in an effort to qualify and quantify the mechanisms responsible for the rich epidemiological evidence in the open literature, has conducted extensive research and analysis into the biological effects of AC magnetic field exposure. He summarizes these potential mechanisms as follows:
In a presentation summary
10, Henshaw states:
"Many life forms evolved to detect MFs [magnetic fields] and use them for navigation; acute adverse health effects are associated with GM [geomagnetic] storms (all below some levels from the electricity supply). Both magnetite clusters and the RPM [Radical Pair Mechanism] can transduce power frequency MFs at common public exposure levels. The demonstration that human cryptochromes are magneto-receptive, has implications for circadian rhythm disruption in humans and one possible model to explain health effects associated with ELF MF exposure."
Simplified diagram of the physical mechanism for health effects of AC magnetic fields. [Henshaw 10 with permission]
In a concluding statement, Henshaw writes:
"In my estimation, official review bodies have cited less than 10% of the available scientific evidence relating to ELF-EMF effects. In some areas, none of the literature has been cited."
So what we have among the biological mechanisms of long-term EMF exposure are:
- Overwhelm of the natural Earth/ionosphere EMF sense
- Neurotransmitter concentration alteration
- Hormonal imbalance
- Melatonin disruption
- Circadian disruption
- Production of protein stressors (inflammation)
- Adrenal performance
- Free radical production
- DNA destruction and altered expression
- Immune system disruption
- Nerve and brain damage
- Unnatural stimulation of fight/flight response
Conclusions
These are truly deep systemic impacts on human physiology, and help explain the wide range of symptoms and chronic disease conditions that have been linked to long-term EMF exposure. [Note: these effects/mechanisms are particularly devastating in children where cells are rapidly dividing/specializing as part of the growth process.] It is no wonder that the spectrum of symptom and disease conditions is so broad, particularly when contributing factors such as genetic predisposition, lifestyle, diet, and exposure to chemical toxins (and many prescription drugs) are factored in. In fact, diet deficiencies and exposure to toxins have been linked to many (if not all) of these systemic mechanisms. This suggests that the approach to recovery from disease and the maintenance of good health is three-pronged, as shown in the image below:
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Figure 5 The effects of chronic EMF exposure are difficult to quantify outside the context of poor diet and exposure to chemical toxins.
Simply addressing a single area in Figure 5 may not be sufficient to prevent chronic disease or maintain health. Hippocrates' statement "
Let your food be your medicine and your medicine be your food" was good guidance for past times devoid of man-made chemicals and EMF. But today, we must apply our knowledge of these two additional areas in actions and decisions that will truly give us the best chance of recovery and maintenance of our health. There is much evidence that negative conditions in these three areas (Figure 5) can and do interact with devastating health impact - just like two relatively benign drugs that, when combined, produce serious systemic malfunction.
That deteriorating health due to these three areas necessarily equates to mental and emotional dysfunction - affecting even our most basic thinking processes - is often overlooked (or actively suppressed). This is intentional (both the suppression and dysfunction) and supports higher level agendas of manipulation and control of the human populace. An examination of the components of Figure 5 reveals that it is the multinational-industrial complex, in concert with government puppets (politicians, regulatory agencies, etc), that set the stage for a proliferation of poisonous consumables which, outwardly, bear the look of positive technology enhancement, but which in reality slowly rob us of our physical and mental health. The sad fact is that, in our ignorance, collectively, we fund this nightmare by demanding these consumables in ever-increasing quantity, and ascribe to this power complex a benevolence that is entirely fictional. The antidote to this condition is knowledge and the will to act on it. In this sense, knowledge really does protect.
In today's world there is no way to avoid EMF exposure entirely - just as there is no way to avoid a degree of chemical toxic exposure, or eat an exclusively ancestral diet consistent with human evolution (or to even know precisely what that diet is). But we can test and apply our knowledge on all three fronts to give our bodies the best chance of conquering disease and maintaining the best possible health.
Notes and References
1. Denis Henshaw, Professor Emeritus (retired), School of Physics, University of Bristol
2. Waugh, J, Living Safely with Electromagnetic Radiation, Castle Mountain Publishing, 2010.
3. Henshaw DL, Re: Use of mobile phones and risk of brain tumours: update of Danish cohort study. Frei, et al. 343:doi:10.1136/bmj.d6387, http://ift.tt/1KyVAck
4. http://ift.tt/VKqQyh
5. OPEN LETTER, Foreword - Documented Health Damage under the Influence of High Frequency Electromagnetic Fields Dr. Cornelia Waldmann Selsam, Karl-May-Str.48, 96049 Bamberg (see also 4)
6. OPEN LETTER, Bamberg, February 12, 2009 http://ift.tt/1KyVAsA
7. Interdisziplina re Gesellschaftfur Umweltmedizine. V. ,Freiburger Appeal, October 9, 2002. http://ift.tt/1KyVC3J
8. Havas M, et al: Provocation study using heart rate variability shows microwave radiation from 2.4 GHz cordless phone affects autonomic nervous system, Eur. J. Oncol. Library, vol. 5, 2010.
9. Buchner K, Eger H 2011 Changes of Clinically Important Neurotransmitters under the Influence of Modulated RF Fields—A Long-term Study under Real-life Conditions, Umwelt-Medizin-Gesellschaft 24(1):44-57 (Original study in German) For English see http://ift.tt/1KyVAsD
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