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28 March 2024

Mobile phone related illnesses on the rise in UAE

[Image via Shutterstock]

Published
By Joseph George

The dangers of excessive use of mobile phones and tablets have been exposed.

As authorities and experts are questioning if mobile phones indeed cause brain tumours, a senior UAE doctor has said he has had patients suffering from side effects of a mobile phone's electro-magnetic radiation.

Dr Suresh Menon, Medical Director at Dubai's Lifeline Hospital, says some of his patients constantly using mobile phones have been complaining of a one-sided head ache and hearing related issues.

According to him, while there is still no evidence that there is a fatal risk from being exposed to radio frequency energy (RF) from cell phones, a recent study has also proved that those using a phone for 50 minutes or more, their brain tissues on the same side as the head as the phone's antenna metabolised more glucose compared to tissues on the other side of the brain.

Possible health outcomes of such a change in metabolism are still being studied.

Meanwhile, the head of the Federal Communications Commission in the United States has called for a review of the agency's stance on radio-frequency energy emitted from cell phones amid concerns that the devices may cause brain tumors.

FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski on Friday circulated a proposal to his fellow commissioners calling for a formal inquiry into the mobile phone emissions standards set in 1996.

The agency is keen to find scientific evidence that could necessitate changes to the current emission standards and see is emission standards should be different for devices used by children.

An FCC spokesperson, however, also added that the agency continues to believe there is no evidence tying cancer, headaches, dizziness, memory loss or other health problems to mobile phones.

Radio-frequency devices such as cell phones and microwaves emit radio-frequency energy, a form of non-ionizing radiation that is quite different from cancer causing ionizing radiation from gamma rays and X-rays.

The US based National Cancer Institute while noting that studies thus far have not shown a consistent link between cell phone use and cancers of the brain, nerves, or other tissues of the head or neck, however has also called upon the need for further research as cell phone technology and how people have been using it has changed considerably over years.

According to it the amount of radio frequency energy a cell phone user is exposed to depends on the technology of the phone, the distance between the phone’s antenna and the user, the extent and type of use, and the user’s distance from cell phone towers.

The world now has about more than 5 billion active handsets.

Within the UAE too mobile phone penetration has significantly improved (by 154 per cent) with nearly 639,000 new GSM users joined the UAE mobile phone network in the first quarter of 2012, raising the total number to 12.36 million.

Dr Menon also adds that increasing use of SMS texting is also resulting in muscles between the fingers and the thumb getting wasted and a resulting groove in the fingers, a problem similar to those faced by typists who constantly used the typewriter.

"While using typewriters people had their fingers in a crunched state and fingers used to get frozen. This resulted in a reduction in the size and wasting of muscles in between the fingers," he said.

"Electromagnetic radiation or the radiowaves also affect the ventricular organ, a key sensitive organ that can affect a musician's ability to hear the finer nuances of musical notes, etc., the best way to avoid all these issues is by keeping the phone at a fair distance and using quality earphones while talking," he added.

Drinking tea could cause cancer in men

London: Men who drink lots of tea are far more likely to develop prostate cancer, according to a latest research published in the Daily Mail.

Scientists at the University of Glasgow found that those who drank seven or more cups a day had a 50 per cent higher risk of contracting the disease than men who had three or fewer.

Researchers claim they have tracked 6,000 men for four decades.

Their findings run counter to previous research, which had suggested that tea-drinking lowers the risk of cancer, as well as heart disease, diabetes and Parkinson’s disease.

The study, led by Dr Kashif Shafique, began in 1970.

[Image via Shutterstock]