Hands Free Cell Phone Use Shown to Disorient Drivers

Research is slowly but surely revealing that the use of cell phones is dangerous and may play a large role in the modern day increase in cancer as well as brain diseases such as Alzheimer's. Certain US States and European countries have banned or are planning to ban the use of cell phones while driving. Now research shows that even hands free phones can affect drivers.

England has already banned the use of handsets while driving, and is set to take further action to ban the use of hands free cell phones. Government research has discovered that any cell phone use, including hands free, causes a disorientation which may increase the risk of accidents. This disorientation can last up to 10 minutes after the phone call is finished.

Cell phone use was compared to conversation with another person in the car. This was shown to have no disorienting effects, indicating that conversation itself does not interfere with driving ability. On the other hand, cell phone activity appears to affect concentration, reaction and focused attention.

Researchers are not entirely clear as to why even hands free phones have such a negative effect on driving ability. They know that one is still exposed to harmful rays even when the phone is 2 to 3 feet away. Another reason may be that the brain must use abilities to create an image of a person who is not physically present, which distracts from driving.

Other Warnings of Cell Phone Use Includes:
*Germany warned it citizens to avoid wireless devices in 2007
*In September 2007, the European Environment Agency advised people to stop using WiFi and cell phones based on 15 separate studies. They warned wireless technology may potentially be a public health disaster that is equivalent to cigarette smoking, asbestos and lead in car gas.
*The Israeli government has banned placing antennas used for cell phone reception on residential buildings.
*A study of 51,000 men at the Case Western Reserve University, Ohio showed that cell phone use may damage sperm.
*Pregnant mothers, who use cell phones 2-3 times per day, are found to give birth to children with malfunctioning cells.
*Toronto's department of public health has advised teenagers and young children to limit their use of cell phones.
*A study published in the Biochemical Journal showed that just 10 minutes of cell phone use can trigger changes in brain cells linked to cell division and cancer.
*A Finnish study published in The International Journal of Cancer Regular showed that cell phone use raises the risk of developing a brain tumor. The risk was highest among people under the age of 20.

Unfortunately, most people rely on their cell phone or on a wireless computer network. Even if people don't use this technology themselves, they are still exposed to it daily. There are no easy answers to dealing with this issue.

What you can do to Protect Yourself

Ensuring that you get plenty of antioxidants in the diet is crucial for avoiding environmental pollution, including cell phones. Raw chocolate, goji berries, acai berries, wild blueberries and pomegranates are some of the foods highest in antioxidant activity.

Spending time in nature away from the constant bombardment of cell phones and wireless technology can help to rebalance the body. There is even some evidence to suggest that having plants around the house and in the work place can offer some protection against harmful rays.

There are some devices which are known to protect against cell phones and computers. Some of these are worn as necklaces while others are placed on the phone or computer. Further studies need to be done in order to confirm their validity.

Cancer is Not A Disease by Andreas Moritz

About the author

Sheryl is a kinesiologist, nutritionist and holistic practitioner.
Her website www.younglivingguide.com provides the latest research on preventing disease, looking naturally gorgeous, and feeling emotionally and physically fabulous. You can also find some of the most powerful super foods on the planet including raw chocolate, purple corn, and many others.

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Evidence mounts on links between cell phones and brain tumors

A growing body of evidence, dating back to the 1960s, suggests that brain tumors may be only one of the many health problems produced by our new wireless society will produce.

Cell-phone technology "could lead to a health crisis similar to those caused by asbestos, smoking, and lead in petrol," warned the European Union's environmental watchdog agency in 2007.

The most ambitious attempt to catalogue the health risks of cell phones to date is the industry-funded Interphone study, carried out by researchers from 13 different countries (not including the United States). Although the study has been criticized for selecting data in a way designed to play down the risks of cell phone use, it continues to turn up alarming findings nonetheless. Among the findings so far are a 40 percent increase in brain tumor risk among adults who use a cell phone for 10 years (especially on the side of the head where the phone is held); a 300 percent increased risk of acoustic nerve tumors; and an increased risk of tumors of the parotid gland. The risk of a brain tumor increases by 400 percent in people who start using a cell phone before the age of 20.

Other studies, mostly out of Europe, have linked mobile phone and personal digital assistant (PDA) use to DNA damage, sperm death, and brain damage including early-onset dementia. These findings regularly make big news in the international press, but are by and large played down in U.S. media.

The United States has a long history of hostility toward the claim that the microwave radiation used by microwave ovens, cell phones, cell phone towers and wireless internet (Wi-Fi) can be harmful to human health. U.S. law prohibits challenging the placement of cell phone towers on health grounds, and an industry group (the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers) is highly influential in setting exposure standards.

The first research on the risks of microwave radiation was actually uncovered by a U.S. researcher, Allan Frey, in the 1960s. Frey discovered that "nonionizing" electromagnetic radiation -- previously thought to be harmless -- could still produce biological effects. For example, radar waves can produce "sound" even in the absence of actual sound waves by interfering with the brain's own electromagnetic signals. Frey found that microwaves could damage the organs of lab animals, even stopping their hearts completely.

Yet when Frey published a paper showing that microwave radiation could disrupt the functioning of the blood-brain barrier, the Office of Naval Research ordered him to conceal the work or lose funding. Pentagon-funded scientists claimed they had refuted his work, but refused to share any information on their data or methods.

Frey found that while the primary (or "carrier") wave of microwave radiation can cause health problems, the secondary wave that carries the actual data -- whether sound, text, pictures or other information transmitted via cell phones or Wi-Fi connections -- is far more dangerous. The more data streams carried, the higher the danger.

Modern research supports these early findings, with 75 percent of independently funded studies showing health risks from cell phone radiation (in contrast with only 25 percent of industry funded studies). Researchers have also documented dramatic rises in the rate of numerous health problems immediately following the introduction of widespread Wi-Fi and cell phone networks across Europe.

Such concerns have led European governments to consider banning Wi-Fi in government facilities, and to the Austrian Medical Association's call for a ban on Wi-Fi in schools. The national library of France has already removed all Wi-Fi connections due to health concerns.

In certain segments of the U.S. population, awareness is also growing. According to an anonymous investment banker speaking to a GQ reporter, rates of brain tumors among financial executives are shockingly high, a fact more and more people are attributing to constant cell phone use.
Sources for this story include: www.gq.com/cars-gear/gear-and-gadge....

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