Cell phone emissions excite the brain

Last Updated: 2006-06-26 11:22:58 -0400 (Reuters Health)

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Cell phones emit electromagnetic fields (EMFs), which excite the brain, a new study shows. The finding could have implications for people with epilepsy or other brain disorders.

"It should be argued that long-lasting repeated exposure to EMFs linked with intense of cellular phones in daily life might be harmful or beneficial in brain-diseased subjects," study investigators suggest.

While the biological effects of EMFs on the overall body have been well studied, relatively few studies have looked at the effects of EMFs on the brain.

In a first of a kind study, researchers from Italy investigated how the brain reacts to EMF exposure from cell phones. Dr. Paolo M. Rossini from Hospital Fatebenefratelli in Rome and colleagues exposed 15 healthy men in their 20s and 30s to EMF signals from a common type of cell phone for 45 minutes.

The researchers monitored the brain for electrical changes before, immediately after, and one hour after the use of a cell phone or the use of a "sham" cell phone, which emitting no EMFs. The participants were unaware of which type of phone they used.

The vast majority of the men (12 of 15) showed electrical changes in the brain hemisphere next to the cell phone when it was turned on, Rossini and colleagues report in the July issue of the Annals of Neurology, published online today.

No changes were evident during sham EMF exposure when the cell phone was turned off or in the hemisphere of the brain not exposed to EMFs from cell phones.

The cell phone-induced electrical changes in the brain were transient; the subjects' brain tended to return to pre-cell phone use conditions one hour after the exposure.

Rossini and colleagues emphasize that this study shows only changes in electrical activity of the brain with cell phone use. "We still don't know whether this effect is neutral or potentially dangerous or beneficial to cortical and brain functioning, but we firmly believe that, starting from this observation, more research is needed both in healthy people and in specific groups of subjects suffering from neurological disorders in which cortical excitability is affected (eg, epilepsy)."

Further studies may yield information leading to the generation of "safe rules for the use of this increasingly more widespread device," they conclude.

SOURCE: Annals of Neurology July 2006, online June 26, 2006.

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More evidence links pesticides with Parkinson's

Last Updated: 2006-06-26 10:49:58 -0400 (Reuters Health)

WASHINGTON - People with long-term, low-level exposure to pesticides have a 70-percent higher incidence of Parkinson's disease than people who have not been exposed much to these agents, U.S. researchers reported Monday.

These workers include farmers, ranchers and fishermen, the researchers report in the July issue of Annals of Neurology.

Their study supports previous research that suggested pesticides can be linked with Parkinson's disease, a neurologic disorder caused by the destruction of key brain cells, the team at the Harvard School of Public Health explained.

"The findings support the hypothesis that exposure to pesticides is a risk factor for Parkinson's disease," they wrote.

Alberto Ascherio, an associate professor of nutrition and epidemiology and colleagues examined data from a 2001 American Cancer Society survey of 143,325 people.

The researchers contacted those people who reported they had been diagnosed with Parkinson's disease. The American Cancer Society was studying cancer risk factors and all the subjects had reported their eating and lifestyle habits and environmental exposures.

More than 5,200 men and 2,600 women were exposed to pesticides. After adjusting for age, sex, and other risk factors for Parkinson's disease, the researchers found a 70-percent higher incidence of the disease among people exposed to pesticides than among those who reported no exposure.

More men than women said they had been exposed to pesticides and those reporting exposure were more likely to be farmers, ranchers or fishermen, the researchers said.

People who had other jobs and who reported pesticide exposure most likely were using the chemicals at home or while gardening, the researchers speculated.

Exposure to asbestos, chemicals, acids, solvents, or coal or stone dust was not associated with a higher risk, the researchers said.

"Future studies should seek to identify the specific compounds associated with risk," the researchers concluded. The class of chemicals called organophosphates has been linked with Parkinson's risk in other studies.

There is no cure for Parkinson's disease, which starts off with tremors and ends up paralyzing and often killing patients. Globally, it is estimated that 6.3 million people have the disease, more than 1 million in the United States alone.

Copyright © 2006 Reuters Limited. All rights reserved. Republication or redistribution of Reuters content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Reuters. Reuters shall not be liable for any errors or delays in the content, or for any actions taken in reliance thereon. Reuters and the Reuters sphere logo are registered trademarks and trademarks of the Reuters group of companies around the world.