Hi,
I recommend the following antioxidants for protection against the ambiant levels of microwave and other forms of electromagnetic radiation we are all exposed to on a daily basis - since they are known to deplete the body of its natural stores of antioxidants leading to cascading level of free radical damage. These will not only offer one protection against this radiation but should also keep one young and beautiful. For me, I have found iherb to be the most reasonably priced outlet for purchasing supplements - and they try to rip you off with shipping charges; and of these supplements I am very happy with the Jarrow Brand. If anyone finds anything better and cheaper, let me know. :)
http://www.iherb.com/store/ProductDetails.aspx?c=Herbs&pid=JRW-01001
http://www.iherb.com/store/ProductDetails.aspx?c=Herbs&pid=JRW-20008
http://www.iherb.com/store/ProductDetails.aspx?c=Herbs&pid=JRW-02010
http://www.iherb.com/store/ProductDetails.aspx?c=Herbs&pid=JRW-14028
http://www.iherb.com/store/ProductDetails.aspx?c=Herbs&pid=JRW-14029
http://www.iherb.com/store/ProductDetails.aspx?c=Herbs&pid=JRW-12018
http://www.iherb.com/store/ProductDetails.aspx?c=Herbs&pid=JRW-06016
http://www.iherb.com/store/ProductDetails.aspx?c=Herbs&pid=JRW-15013
http://www.iherb.com/store/ProductDetails.aspx?c=Herbs&pid=JRW-08008
http://www.iherb.com/store/ProductDetails.aspx?c=Herbs&pid=DRB-00058
http://www.iherb.com/store/ProductDetails.aspx?c=Herbs&pid=DRB-00143
http://www.iherb.com/store/ProductDetails.aspx?c=Herbs&pid=JRW-12025
http://www.iherb.com/store/ProductDetails.aspx?c=Herbs&pid=NWY-03010
http://www.iherb.com/store/ProductDetails.aspx?c=Herbs&pid=DRB-00058
http://www.iherb.com/store/ProductDetails.aspx?c=Herbs&pid=JRW-12026
http://www.iherb.com/store/ProductDetails.aspx?c=Herbs&pid=JRW-12009
http://www.iherb.com/store/ProductDetails.aspx?c=Herbs&pid=JRW-07001
http://www.iherb.com/store/ProductDetails.aspx?c=Herbs&pid=ETR-21000
http://www.iherb.com/store/ProductDetails.aspx?c=Herbs&pid=JRW-13006
http://www.iherb.com/store/ProductDetails.aspx?c=Herbs&pid=GFC-20428
However, in the long run, we all know what the only real solution is: get rid of the cell phones, cell phone towers, and the WiFi. But that won't happen until enough people get sick from this, are able to recognize what is making them sick, and are conscious enough to try to do something about it. Unfortunately, at the moment it seems most people are in the dark - or in denial - or in apathy - about this.
peace
paul
Saturday, June 02, 2007
Difficulty Breathing, Blurry vision, Headaches and even cases of...
I myself originally experienced similar symptoms as this woman:
Usually a good sleeper, I'd suddenly begun waking up early in the morning and finding myself unable to go back to sleep.
When I started to get ill, I started to wake up earlier and earlier. For someone who usually would wake at the earliest 8 AM and even then I had to drag myself out of bed, waking up suddenly at 5 AM was very strange. As time progressed I would wake up at 4 AM and then 3 AM and then I just couldn't sleep at all anymore.
She insisted that my exhaustion was caused by electromagnetic "smog" in my flat. The problem, she explained, is that our dependence on office and communications equipment (especially mobile phones and the masts needed to power them, as well as microwaves, computers and electrical equipment), exposes us to frequencies that can have a detrimental effect on our wellbeing, especially if we are run-down, or if our immune system is compromised in some way.
For me it eventually caused what in the UK is known as ME and in the United Stated inappropriately and misleadingly dubbed Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (CFS) or Chronic Fatigue Immune Dysfunction Syndrome (CFIDS).
This made sense, as my symptoms had begun soon after installing wireless technology in my sitting room. Wireless (Wi-Fi) technology allows you to access emails and the internet anywhere in your living space. It's convenient but I could live without it if meant having more physical energy. So I immediately turned off my wireless network and replaced it with broadband....In effect, we live in an electro-dictatorship: even if you haven't voted for this technology by say, owning a mobile phone, you may still suffer the same effects as those who have. For example, although I've turned off my wireless access I can still tap in to my neighbour's Wi-Fi downstairs.
I was able to find out that in the apartment building where I was living in Japan, almost all my neighbors adjacent to my apartment had WiFi installed and it was bleeding into my apartment. The people above and the people on all sides of me all had WiFi.
When the Swedish town of Götene activated their new Wi-Fi system in May 2006, within hours the local hospital emergency services were receiving calls from residents complaining of a number of symptoms: difficulty breathing, blurry vision, headaches and even cases of heart arrhythmia.
It doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out that if microwave radiation depolarizes the red blood cells in the human body causing them to clump together, then naturally the red blood cells will have a more difficult time transporting the body's much needed oxygen to the cells of the body's organs - which will thus lead to "difficulty breathing" among a host of other abnormalities. Where I live most people attribute their difficulty in breathing only to the high altitude, but I suspect there are other factors involved:
http://www.buergerwelle.de/pdf/cluster.jpg . For an English translation of the study see
http://omega.twoday.net/stories/3325490/
http://www.bea-celle.de/mensch/auswirkungen.htm
Personally, I also developed heart arrhythmia when I was ill and before I was able to connect my bizarre symptoms to the extreme ambient level of electrosmog in my environment.
Like many people, I'm mobile-dependent, but I now use a headset that delivers sound through an air-filled wireless tube similar to a doctor's stethoscope (but much smaller, so you don't look like you're on call).
This woman who was made sick by this technology is obviously a bit unconscious, since this technology is not only making her sick but is also very likely causing other people to be made ill - especially in causing autims and ADHD in children while causing other children to develop - and often die - from brain tumors and leukemia. There is a serious problem with people who want to own a cell phone but do not want the tower next to their home - since they seem to feel it is alright to put the tower next to someone else's home so that they can enjoy their convenience.
Gary Johnson. Disturbed with the increasing number of patients coming to him with skin problems, exhaustion, blurred vision, and symptoms similar to chronic fatigue syndrome, he suspected that they might be sensitive to electromagnetic radiation (EMR).
I am happy to hear that some health practitioners are starting to figure this out. And I am glad to help them in anyway possible to have them recognize this invisible danger.
Professor Leif Salford, of Sweden's Lund University, has been researching the effects of phone masts for 15 years. He says that exposure to radiation emitted by mobile phones and masts can destroy cells in the parts of the brain responsible for memory, movement and learning, and calls mankind's dependence on mobile phones "the world's largest biological experimentever".
No shit, Sherlock. The major crime against humanity is now being perpetuated by the mass majority of humanity. With industry at the Apex and the idiots at the Bottom. It really is insane and quite masochistic/sadistic for someone to pay the cell phone companies to harm them (masochistic) and others (sadistic).
peace
paul
My war on electrosmog: Julia Stephenson sets out to clear the airwaves
How one woman fought back after being diagnosed by her naturopath with overexposure to Wi-Fi and mobile phone frequencies
Published: 31 May 2007
www.independent.co.uk
A few months ago I noticed I was feeling dog-tired and drained all the time. Usually a good sleeper, I'd suddenly begun waking up early in the morning and finding myself unable to go back to sleep.
It wasn't only me that was drooping. My once-lush plants had lost their lustre too. Ridiculous, considering how well I look after myself - and my plants.
I am well-doctored, to put it mildly. I probably consult more doctors than Woody Allen, who has separate screenings of his movies for his doctors. Everyone is entitled to a hobby; mine just happens to be my health, and what a fascinating hobby it is.
When at a loss to explain my new malaise, I visited my naturopath. It may sound unorthodox, but if it works, who cares?
She insisted that my exhaustion was caused by electromagnetic "smog" in my flat. The problem, she explained, is that our dependence on office and communications equipment (especially mobile phones and the masts needed to power them, as well as microwaves, computers and electrical equipment), exposes us to frequencies that can have a detrimental effect on our
wellbeing, especially if we are run-down, or if our immune system is compromised in some way.
This made sense, as my symptoms had begun soon after installing wireless technology in my sitting room. Wireless (Wi-Fi) technology allows you to access emails and the internet anywhere in your living space. It's convenient but I could live without it if meant having more physical energy. So I immediately turned off my wireless network and replaced it with broadband.
My naturopath is not alone in her concern. There is growing evidence that Wi-Fi technology is harmful. When the Swedish town of Götene activated their new Wi-Fi system in May 2006, within hours the local hospital emergency services were receiving calls from residents complaining of a number of symptoms: difficulty breathing, blurry vision, headaches and even cases of heart arrhythmia. On 23 May 2006, Sweden's STV followed up the story on their current affairs programme "Debatt".
The worldwide centre of the mobile phone industry, Sweden is where much of the research on environmental illness has been carried out. It was the first country to recognise electromagnetic hypersensitivity as a valid medical condition, and has set up a federal body to assist sufferers of those affected ( www.feb.se). There have been calls for the Swedish government to close down the nation's Wi-Fi networks, pending further investigation.
Those concerned about possible side-effects believe that our unprecedented exposure to electrical equipment, mobile phones and Wi-Fi mean that we are surrounded by a soup of electromagnetic smog at all times. In effect, we live in an electro-dictatorship: even if you haven't voted for this technology by say, owning a mobile phone, you may still suffer the same effects as those who have. For example, although I've turned off my wireless access I can still tap in to my neighbour's Wi-Fi downstairs.
Research being carried out by industry, the Government and academics has so far failed to find a persuasive link between mobile phone masts and health problems. The Department of Health and the Mobile Operators Association insist that British masts conform to international safety standards. A research group commissioned by the government-funded Health Protection Agency reported: "Exposure levels from living near to mobile phone base stations are extremely low and the overall evidence indicates they are unlikely to pose a risk to health." But it continued: "Research has limitations and the possibility remains open that there could be health effects from exposure - hence continued research is needed."
Many doctors are now convinced that this powerful technology is storing up huge problems for our future health. To date, 1,200 physicians in Germany, and 2,000 worldwide, have signed the Freiburger Appeal, a petition for severe restrictions on wireless technology. The doctors say they are seeing a dramatic increase in certain diseases and symptoms in their patients.
"Any imbalance in our electromagnetic field creates a disturbance in cell structure and function, which can lead to illness in sensitive individuals," says London-based complementary health practitioner Dr Nicole de Canha.
Even cordless hands-free home telephones - such a boon to multitaskers, enabling one to patiently listen to friends and family for hours while cleaning cupboards, re-potting house plants and reorganising the CD collection - are now off-limits. Their electrical force-field is nearly as powerful as that of a mobile phone. Since I'm now chained to a phone on a lead, my cupboards are filthy and my friends are neglected. But at least I'm less radioactive.
It's much harder to avoid mobile phone masts, however. Over the past 10 years they have sprouted all over the country to power the mobile phones owned by over 95 per cent of the population. To find out how close you live to a mast go to www.sitefinder.radio.gov.uk. The results may shock you: there are now 35,000 mobile phone masts in the UK, and chances are that several are in your immediate vicinity. It's supposed that you are never more than 10 feet away from a rat in London; you may find yourself even closer to a phone mast.
Despite being implicated in a number of health problems - something that alarms parents of the one in 10 schools located close to masts - these masts need no planning permission and are often disguised in trees, petrol stations, shop signs, even church steeples. For instance, the support pole for the golden angel weathervane on Guildford Cathedral is actually a mobile mast, supporting several antennas. In return for access to the coveted hilltop site, the golden angel was regilded. It seems that even God cannot offer protection from this insidious pollution.
Fortunately there are steps that concerned individuals can take to reduce the amount of "electro-smog" to which they are subject. Like many people, I'm mobile-dependent, but I now use a headset that delivers sound through an air-filled wireless tube similar to a doctor's stethoscope (but much smaller, so you don't look like you're on call). Conventional headsets transmit sound to the earpiece through a wire, but as wire is an electrical conductor it may also deliver radiation directly to your head. Since I've started using the tube I no longer experience headaches or a slight ringing in my ears.
You could also try the Q-Link pendant, which employs "sympathetic resonance technology," something that the makers declare "repairs and tunes your biofield". Friends who wear a Q-Link report that they feel healthier and more energetic.
The homeopathic medicine company, New Vistas, and the Australian flower essence company, Bush Flower Remedies, both make drops that claim to reduce the amount of radiation stored in the body.
Also, for the past two months I've been using an electro-magnetic field protection unit plugged into a wall at home. The device was created by engineer and homeopath Gary Johnson. Disturbed with the increasing number of patients coming to him with skin problems, exhaustion, blurred vision, and symptoms similar to chronic fatigue syndrome, he suspected that they might be sensitive to electromagnetic radiation (EMR).
"The heart of the unit is a programmed microprocessor unit that produces a holograph field that is amplified through an internal aerial system. This protection field protects the human system from the negative effects of EMR," says Johnson. He says he has had great success in alleviating patients' symptoms, and claims the unit offers unlimited protection from any
negative electromagnetic emissions in a 700-square metre radius.
Professor Leif Salford, of Sweden's Lund University, has been researching the effects of phone masts for 15 years. He says that exposure to radiation emitted by mobile phones and masts can destroy cells in the parts of the brain responsible for memory, movement and learning, and calls mankind's dependence on mobile phones "the world's largest biological experiment ever".
As yet, no one knows what price we will pay for our dependence on modern technology.
Additional research by the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, USA (http://www.niehs.nih.gov) and the Office of Communications,the independent regulator for the UK communications industries (www.ofcom.org.uk)
How to block the rays
* Magnetic field protection boxes start at £235 and are available from www.subtlefieldtechnologies.com
* Q-Link pendants cost from £70 at www.qlinkworld.co.uk
* Anti-radiation mobile phone headsets are available at www.rf3now.com or the Sloane Health Shop, London SW3 (020 7730 7046)
* Australian Bush Flower Essences can be found at www.ausflowers.com.au
Usually a good sleeper, I'd suddenly begun waking up early in the morning and finding myself unable to go back to sleep.
When I started to get ill, I started to wake up earlier and earlier. For someone who usually would wake at the earliest 8 AM and even then I had to drag myself out of bed, waking up suddenly at 5 AM was very strange. As time progressed I would wake up at 4 AM and then 3 AM and then I just couldn't sleep at all anymore.
She insisted that my exhaustion was caused by electromagnetic "smog" in my flat. The problem, she explained, is that our dependence on office and communications equipment (especially mobile phones and the masts needed to power them, as well as microwaves, computers and electrical equipment), exposes us to frequencies that can have a detrimental effect on our wellbeing, especially if we are run-down, or if our immune system is compromised in some way.
For me it eventually caused what in the UK is known as ME and in the United Stated inappropriately and misleadingly dubbed Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (CFS) or Chronic Fatigue Immune Dysfunction Syndrome (CFIDS).
This made sense, as my symptoms had begun soon after installing wireless technology in my sitting room. Wireless (Wi-Fi) technology allows you to access emails and the internet anywhere in your living space. It's convenient but I could live without it if meant having more physical energy. So I immediately turned off my wireless network and replaced it with broadband....In effect, we live in an electro-dictatorship: even if you haven't voted for this technology by say, owning a mobile phone, you may still suffer the same effects as those who have. For example, although I've turned off my wireless access I can still tap in to my neighbour's Wi-Fi downstairs.
I was able to find out that in the apartment building where I was living in Japan, almost all my neighbors adjacent to my apartment had WiFi installed and it was bleeding into my apartment. The people above and the people on all sides of me all had WiFi.
When the Swedish town of Götene activated their new Wi-Fi system in May 2006, within hours the local hospital emergency services were receiving calls from residents complaining of a number of symptoms: difficulty breathing, blurry vision, headaches and even cases of heart arrhythmia.
It doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out that if microwave radiation depolarizes the red blood cells in the human body causing them to clump together, then naturally the red blood cells will have a more difficult time transporting the body's much needed oxygen to the cells of the body's organs - which will thus lead to "difficulty breathing" among a host of other abnormalities. Where I live most people attribute their difficulty in breathing only to the high altitude, but I suspect there are other factors involved:
http://www.buergerwelle.de/pdf/cluster.jpg . For an English translation of the study see
http://omega.twoday.net/stories/3325490/
http://www.bea-celle.de/mensch/auswirkungen.htm
Personally, I also developed heart arrhythmia when I was ill and before I was able to connect my bizarre symptoms to the extreme ambient level of electrosmog in my environment.
Like many people, I'm mobile-dependent, but I now use a headset that delivers sound through an air-filled wireless tube similar to a doctor's stethoscope (but much smaller, so you don't look like you're on call).
This woman who was made sick by this technology is obviously a bit unconscious, since this technology is not only making her sick but is also very likely causing other people to be made ill - especially in causing autims and ADHD in children while causing other children to develop - and often die - from brain tumors and leukemia. There is a serious problem with people who want to own a cell phone but do not want the tower next to their home - since they seem to feel it is alright to put the tower next to someone else's home so that they can enjoy their convenience.
Gary Johnson. Disturbed with the increasing number of patients coming to him with skin problems, exhaustion, blurred vision, and symptoms similar to chronic fatigue syndrome, he suspected that they might be sensitive to electromagnetic radiation (EMR).
I am happy to hear that some health practitioners are starting to figure this out. And I am glad to help them in anyway possible to have them recognize this invisible danger.
Professor Leif Salford, of Sweden's Lund University, has been researching the effects of phone masts for 15 years. He says that exposure to radiation emitted by mobile phones and masts can destroy cells in the parts of the brain responsible for memory, movement and learning, and calls mankind's dependence on mobile phones "the world's largest biological experimentever".
No shit, Sherlock. The major crime against humanity is now being perpetuated by the mass majority of humanity. With industry at the Apex and the idiots at the Bottom. It really is insane and quite masochistic/sadistic for someone to pay the cell phone companies to harm them (masochistic) and others (sadistic).
peace
paul
My war on electrosmog: Julia Stephenson sets out to clear the airwaves
How one woman fought back after being diagnosed by her naturopath with overexposure to Wi-Fi and mobile phone frequencies
Published: 31 May 2007
www.independent.co.uk
A few months ago I noticed I was feeling dog-tired and drained all the time. Usually a good sleeper, I'd suddenly begun waking up early in the morning and finding myself unable to go back to sleep.
It wasn't only me that was drooping. My once-lush plants had lost their lustre too. Ridiculous, considering how well I look after myself - and my plants.
I am well-doctored, to put it mildly. I probably consult more doctors than Woody Allen, who has separate screenings of his movies for his doctors. Everyone is entitled to a hobby; mine just happens to be my health, and what a fascinating hobby it is.
When at a loss to explain my new malaise, I visited my naturopath. It may sound unorthodox, but if it works, who cares?
She insisted that my exhaustion was caused by electromagnetic "smog" in my flat. The problem, she explained, is that our dependence on office and communications equipment (especially mobile phones and the masts needed to power them, as well as microwaves, computers and electrical equipment), exposes us to frequencies that can have a detrimental effect on our
wellbeing, especially if we are run-down, or if our immune system is compromised in some way.
This made sense, as my symptoms had begun soon after installing wireless technology in my sitting room. Wireless (Wi-Fi) technology allows you to access emails and the internet anywhere in your living space. It's convenient but I could live without it if meant having more physical energy. So I immediately turned off my wireless network and replaced it with broadband.
My naturopath is not alone in her concern. There is growing evidence that Wi-Fi technology is harmful. When the Swedish town of Götene activated their new Wi-Fi system in May 2006, within hours the local hospital emergency services were receiving calls from residents complaining of a number of symptoms: difficulty breathing, blurry vision, headaches and even cases of heart arrhythmia. On 23 May 2006, Sweden's STV followed up the story on their current affairs programme "Debatt".
The worldwide centre of the mobile phone industry, Sweden is where much of the research on environmental illness has been carried out. It was the first country to recognise electromagnetic hypersensitivity as a valid medical condition, and has set up a federal body to assist sufferers of those affected ( www.feb.se). There have been calls for the Swedish government to close down the nation's Wi-Fi networks, pending further investigation.
Those concerned about possible side-effects believe that our unprecedented exposure to electrical equipment, mobile phones and Wi-Fi mean that we are surrounded by a soup of electromagnetic smog at all times. In effect, we live in an electro-dictatorship: even if you haven't voted for this technology by say, owning a mobile phone, you may still suffer the same effects as those who have. For example, although I've turned off my wireless access I can still tap in to my neighbour's Wi-Fi downstairs.
Research being carried out by industry, the Government and academics has so far failed to find a persuasive link between mobile phone masts and health problems. The Department of Health and the Mobile Operators Association insist that British masts conform to international safety standards. A research group commissioned by the government-funded Health Protection Agency reported: "Exposure levels from living near to mobile phone base stations are extremely low and the overall evidence indicates they are unlikely to pose a risk to health." But it continued: "Research has limitations and the possibility remains open that there could be health effects from exposure - hence continued research is needed."
Many doctors are now convinced that this powerful technology is storing up huge problems for our future health. To date, 1,200 physicians in Germany, and 2,000 worldwide, have signed the Freiburger Appeal, a petition for severe restrictions on wireless technology. The doctors say they are seeing a dramatic increase in certain diseases and symptoms in their patients.
"Any imbalance in our electromagnetic field creates a disturbance in cell structure and function, which can lead to illness in sensitive individuals," says London-based complementary health practitioner Dr Nicole de Canha.
Even cordless hands-free home telephones - such a boon to multitaskers, enabling one to patiently listen to friends and family for hours while cleaning cupboards, re-potting house plants and reorganising the CD collection - are now off-limits. Their electrical force-field is nearly as powerful as that of a mobile phone. Since I'm now chained to a phone on a lead, my cupboards are filthy and my friends are neglected. But at least I'm less radioactive.
It's much harder to avoid mobile phone masts, however. Over the past 10 years they have sprouted all over the country to power the mobile phones owned by over 95 per cent of the population. To find out how close you live to a mast go to www.sitefinder.radio.gov.uk. The results may shock you: there are now 35,000 mobile phone masts in the UK, and chances are that several are in your immediate vicinity. It's supposed that you are never more than 10 feet away from a rat in London; you may find yourself even closer to a phone mast.
Despite being implicated in a number of health problems - something that alarms parents of the one in 10 schools located close to masts - these masts need no planning permission and are often disguised in trees, petrol stations, shop signs, even church steeples. For instance, the support pole for the golden angel weathervane on Guildford Cathedral is actually a mobile mast, supporting several antennas. In return for access to the coveted hilltop site, the golden angel was regilded. It seems that even God cannot offer protection from this insidious pollution.
Fortunately there are steps that concerned individuals can take to reduce the amount of "electro-smog" to which they are subject. Like many people, I'm mobile-dependent, but I now use a headset that delivers sound through an air-filled wireless tube similar to a doctor's stethoscope (but much smaller, so you don't look like you're on call). Conventional headsets transmit sound to the earpiece through a wire, but as wire is an electrical conductor it may also deliver radiation directly to your head. Since I've started using the tube I no longer experience headaches or a slight ringing in my ears.
You could also try the Q-Link pendant, which employs "sympathetic resonance technology," something that the makers declare "repairs and tunes your biofield". Friends who wear a Q-Link report that they feel healthier and more energetic.
The homeopathic medicine company, New Vistas, and the Australian flower essence company, Bush Flower Remedies, both make drops that claim to reduce the amount of radiation stored in the body.
Also, for the past two months I've been using an electro-magnetic field protection unit plugged into a wall at home. The device was created by engineer and homeopath Gary Johnson. Disturbed with the increasing number of patients coming to him with skin problems, exhaustion, blurred vision, and symptoms similar to chronic fatigue syndrome, he suspected that they might be sensitive to electromagnetic radiation (EMR).
"The heart of the unit is a programmed microprocessor unit that produces a holograph field that is amplified through an internal aerial system. This protection field protects the human system from the negative effects of EMR," says Johnson. He says he has had great success in alleviating patients' symptoms, and claims the unit offers unlimited protection from any
negative electromagnetic emissions in a 700-square metre radius.
Professor Leif Salford, of Sweden's Lund University, has been researching the effects of phone masts for 15 years. He says that exposure to radiation emitted by mobile phones and masts can destroy cells in the parts of the brain responsible for memory, movement and learning, and calls mankind's dependence on mobile phones "the world's largest biological experiment ever".
As yet, no one knows what price we will pay for our dependence on modern technology.
Additional research by the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, USA (http://www.niehs.nih.gov) and the Office of Communications,the independent regulator for the UK communications industries (www.ofcom.org.uk)
How to block the rays
* Magnetic field protection boxes start at £235 and are available from www.subtlefieldtechnologies.com
* Q-Link pendants cost from £70 at www.qlinkworld.co.uk
* Anti-radiation mobile phone headsets are available at www.rf3now.com or the Sloane Health Shop, London SW3 (020 7730 7046)
* Australian Bush Flower Essences can be found at www.ausflowers.com.au
Friday, June 01, 2007
Is modern technology increasing our risk of cancer?
In April 2007, news stories about the potential health risks caused by exposure to electromagnetic fields (EMF) circulated once again in the UK. These stories were triggered by two events: first, the publication of a report by the Stakeholder Advisory Group on Extremely Low Frequency Electromagnetic Radiation (SAGE) and, second, a call from Lawrie Challis, chairman of the Mobile Telecommunications and Health Research programme, discouraging children from placing wireless-enabled portable computers on their laps because of the risk of EMF exposure to the lower torso. These events highlight the increasing use of EMF-emitting technologies, and the need for clear strategies that confidently identify and prevent any health risks that might arise from the growing reliance on this technology.
SAGE was commissioned by the UK Government and was asked to consider precautionary measures for two sources of EMF where health risks are uncertain: high-voltage overhead power lines; and domestic wiring, equipment, and appliances. With regards to power lines, the group identified several options that ranged from doing nothing to a more draconian alternative that included compulsory eviction from, or demolition of, properties up to 600 m from power lines. The option SAGE presented to the UK Government as “best available” was the need to prevent new power lines and new residential buildings (and some non-residential buildings, such as schools) from being built within 60 m of each other. Inevitably, this option represented a compromise between the two extremes and, crucially, did not address existing situations where power lines and residential buildings already coexist.
SAGE's remit, although worthy, was fundamentally flawed because the health effects of exposure to EMF remain largely unknown. Evidence of causation is clearly needed before any government can make a decision on appropriate preventative measures, otherwise, whether the intervention is the right one is difficult to assess. The question of disease causation and exposure to EMF has been addressed in a wealth of studies, but considerable uncertainty exists. Epidemiological studies show significant associations between high background magnetic fields located in homes and an increased risk of childhood leukaemia, but this association might not represent causation. As a result, the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC; Lyon, France), has classified power-frequency EMF as “possibly carcinogenic” for childhood leukaemia. Similarly, the California Department of Health Services in the USA has also noted that such a link with regards to adult leukaemia, adult brain tumours, and childhood leukaemia is also possibly carcinogenic, but not definitively so. For other cancers, more debate exists: indeed, IARC has classified the evidence linking EMF with all types of human cancer, other than childhood leukaemia, as “inadequate”.
With rapid advances in modern technology, continuing uncertainty about the health risks is no longer an option. Robust studies are needed urgently to bring reasoned clarity to all decision-making. Previous studies have been beset with weaknesses, such as inadequate adjustment for confounders, difficulties in replicating findings, and problems in measuring exposure (ie, recall bias and absence of standardised measurements). Large prospective multicentre studies are, therefore, needed to increase statistical power, and standardised methods for measuring exposure (such as personal field meters) need to be used over long periods of time. Measures of EMF exposures in different population groups (eg, children, the elderly, different ethnic groups, or people on medication) are also needed, as are anatomical site-specific assessments. Such studies need to be done independently from industries connected with the technologies under scrutiny so that data interpretation is not compromised by vested interests; an eventuality typified by recent allegations in the UK about the deliberate concealment of a risk-assessment report commissioned by a mobile telephone company.
Until we have the necessary evidence to fully assess safety, a precautionary approach is, of course, prudent. But, specific interventional measures should not be taken without a suitable evidence-base of causation, and knee-jerk reactions that potentially hinder innovation are not helpful. However, with increasing modernisation of societies across the world, and with cancer becoming the number one cause of mortality in many developed, and developing, countries, embracing new technology should be done in parallel with robust assessments of any associated dangers.
http://www.thelancet.com/journals/lanonc/article/PIIS1470-2045(07)70149-3/fulltext
Tuesday, May 29, 2007
The People's Will
People's Will
Vote against 3G and TETRA in Sweden's national election 2006!
According to an inquiry made by the Swedish Emergency Management Agency in 2004 regarding the third generation mobile wireless telephony, 3G (UMTS), a great majority of the Swedish population lack an understanding about it's technical merits and why it was introduced in the marketplace. As much as 27 percent is greatly concerned about it's impact on the public health. Almost 1 of every 2 citizens, 47 percent, think the 3G (UMTS) infrastructure should not have been deployed unless it could be proved with 100 percent certainty that it had no negative impact on the public health. According to the same inquiry, 48 percent of the Swedish population are convinced that there is an indisputable health risk when using mobile telephony. Only 13 percent believe there are no negative health impact at all. All this according to an inquiry made by a Swedish government agency. Despite the fact that a majority of the Swedish newspapers is more or less silent about the fact that an extensive amount of research is showing that wireless microwave telecommunication can inflict a major health risk to the general population, and that Swedish government agencies is claiming the opposite, large groups of the Swedish population is convinced that the health risk really exist. Neither the government, the parliament, nor the public authorities in Sweden seem to care about this strong public opinion. Unfortunately, neither do the established political parties. The expansion of the wireless mobile telephony and other wireless technologies like TETRA etc, is allowed to continue in a furious pace. TETRA, which is a wireless communication network planned to be deployed by the Swedish police force, among others, is already strongly criticized in Great Britain because of health problems among officers that use the mobile communication devices and citizens living near the telecommunication masts. In short, a strong economical interest have been given priority over human health.
This is the background to the People's Will initiative in Sweden to form a single issue political party to let all of those who are unable to get attention in the established political parties about this fundamental issue. People's Will want to be the political alternative for people who value their fundamental human rights, life and health higher than all other things. In the beginning of January 2006 an election manifest will be published on the homepage of People's Will, and in the end of February 2006 People's Will will be registered as a political party to be participating in the national election later the same year.
Politicians and authorities as well as the judicial system has clearly shown that it can not be relied upon to adhere demands from a substantial amount of citizens to stop the expansion of new wireless communication networks until an fully independent risk assessment has been done regarding its health effects on the general population. While all other initiatives in the past have been fruitless to get attention to, and an understanding about, the people's will in this matter, the only thing that can still be done by each and every individual citizen is to execute the power of vote in the national election in 2006. People's Will CAN make a change!
People's Will demand a full stop of further expansion of all wireless microwave-based communication networks.
People's Will will do whatever it can to put an end to further expansion of 3G (UMTS) and TETRA until a fully independent investigation has been made. It will thoroughly evaluate and establish new levels of radiation from microwave transmitting technologies that is acceptable in the long term with no negative effects on humans and it's environment. Skeptical as well as highly qualified researchers and experts will be allowed to participate.
People's Will is protesting against elected politicians contempt of fundamental democratic rights and is determined to give as much attention as possible on the most pressing and important issues concerning public health, the right to a healthy life, and the right to not be exposed by something that is a health risk.
People's Will also want to work for a more direct democratic society where authorities and electorates on a regular basis are reviewed and reminded of their commission; to serve in the name of the people – not heavy financial interests and corporations.
People's Will demand that a new and more restrictive limit for wireless microwave communication radiation is established as soon as possible. The currently established limits apparently fail to protect humans and it's environment against harmful effects of long term continuous exposure of microwave radiation. The overall target should be a society that work for the good of the people and a democratic society in it's truer sense.
People's Will wants to give attention to people's concern about the health issues with 3G (UMTS) and TETRA etc. We don't want a continued expansion of wireless communication networks unless in can be established that the radiation is not causing any health issues among the population.
Let this appeal from People's Will travel from mouth to mouth. Give the address of this Internet page to at least 10 people you know and urge them to pass on the message to people they know.
www.folketsvilja.se
donald.forsberg@gmail.com --------------------
Vote against 3G and TETRA in Sweden's national election 2006!
According to an inquiry made by the Swedish Emergency Management Agency in 2004 regarding the third generation mobile wireless telephony, 3G (UMTS), a great majority of the Swedish population lack an understanding about it's technical merits and why it was introduced in the marketplace. As much as 27 percent is greatly concerned about it's impact on the public health. Almost 1 of every 2 citizens, 47 percent, think the 3G (UMTS) infrastructure should not have been deployed unless it could be proved with 100 percent certainty that it had no negative impact on the public health. According to the same inquiry, 48 percent of the Swedish population are convinced that there is an indisputable health risk when using mobile telephony. Only 13 percent believe there are no negative health impact at all. All this according to an inquiry made by a Swedish government agency. Despite the fact that a majority of the Swedish newspapers is more or less silent about the fact that an extensive amount of research is showing that wireless microwave telecommunication can inflict a major health risk to the general population, and that Swedish government agencies is claiming the opposite, large groups of the Swedish population is convinced that the health risk really exist. Neither the government, the parliament, nor the public authorities in Sweden seem to care about this strong public opinion. Unfortunately, neither do the established political parties. The expansion of the wireless mobile telephony and other wireless technologies like TETRA etc, is allowed to continue in a furious pace. TETRA, which is a wireless communication network planned to be deployed by the Swedish police force, among others, is already strongly criticized in Great Britain because of health problems among officers that use the mobile communication devices and citizens living near the telecommunication masts. In short, a strong economical interest have been given priority over human health.
This is the background to the People's Will initiative in Sweden to form a single issue political party to let all of those who are unable to get attention in the established political parties about this fundamental issue. People's Will want to be the political alternative for people who value their fundamental human rights, life and health higher than all other things. In the beginning of January 2006 an election manifest will be published on the homepage of People's Will, and in the end of February 2006 People's Will will be registered as a political party to be participating in the national election later the same year.
Politicians and authorities as well as the judicial system has clearly shown that it can not be relied upon to adhere demands from a substantial amount of citizens to stop the expansion of new wireless communication networks until an fully independent risk assessment has been done regarding its health effects on the general population. While all other initiatives in the past have been fruitless to get attention to, and an understanding about, the people's will in this matter, the only thing that can still be done by each and every individual citizen is to execute the power of vote in the national election in 2006. People's Will CAN make a change!
People's Will demand a full stop of further expansion of all wireless microwave-based communication networks.
People's Will will do whatever it can to put an end to further expansion of 3G (UMTS) and TETRA until a fully independent investigation has been made. It will thoroughly evaluate and establish new levels of radiation from microwave transmitting technologies that is acceptable in the long term with no negative effects on humans and it's environment. Skeptical as well as highly qualified researchers and experts will be allowed to participate.
People's Will is protesting against elected politicians contempt of fundamental democratic rights and is determined to give as much attention as possible on the most pressing and important issues concerning public health, the right to a healthy life, and the right to not be exposed by something that is a health risk.
People's Will also want to work for a more direct democratic society where authorities and electorates on a regular basis are reviewed and reminded of their commission; to serve in the name of the people – not heavy financial interests and corporations.
People's Will demand that a new and more restrictive limit for wireless microwave communication radiation is established as soon as possible. The currently established limits apparently fail to protect humans and it's environment against harmful effects of long term continuous exposure of microwave radiation. The overall target should be a society that work for the good of the people and a democratic society in it's truer sense.
People's Will wants to give attention to people's concern about the health issues with 3G (UMTS) and TETRA etc. We don't want a continued expansion of wireless communication networks unless in can be established that the radiation is not causing any health issues among the population.
Let this appeal from People's Will travel from mouth to mouth. Give the address of this Internet page to at least 10 people you know and urge them to pass on the message to people they know.
www.folketsvilja.se
donald.forsberg@gmail.com --------------------
Monday, May 28, 2007
Depletion of Antioxidants Linked to Brain Tumors
Numerous studies have shown that exposure to microwave radiation and other EMR depletes the body of a number of its naturally occuring antioxidants like SOD (Super Oxide Dismutase) and Glutathione. The following study shows that these antioxidants are also depleted in people with brain tumors, especially malignant brain tumors. This offers another link between exposure to microwave and other EMR and brain tumors. It also hints to us that perhaps we need to take antioxidants in supplement form to guard against the negative effects of being exposed to our daily doses of ambient radiation. And the insanity continues...
Brain tumor and role of β-carotene, a- tocopherol, superoxide dismutase and glutathione peroxidase
Aggarwal Sarita1, Subberwal Manju1, kumar Sushil2, Sharma Meenakshi 3
1 Department of Biochemistry, Maulana Azad Medical College, New Delhi, India
2 Deptt. of neurosurgery,G. B. Pant Hospital, New Delhi, India
3 Department of biochemistry and biotechnology National Institute of communicable diseases, New Delhi, India
Correspondence Address:
Subberwal Manju
146A/AG-1, Vikaspuri, New Delhi
India
manubansiwal@yahoo.co.in
The erythrocyte levels of the antioxidant enzymes SOD and GPx, and serum levels of antioxidants vitamins β -carotene and β -tocopherol were estimated in various types of brain tumors, and were compared with the levels in controls. Statistically significant (P<.001) diminished levels of β - carotene, β -tocopherol, SOD and GPx, were observed in all the brain tumor patients as compared to controls. Malignant tumor also showed a relative decrease in antioxidant levels as compared to benign tumors. Comparison of histopathological sections of brain tumors also suggested a inverse relationship between antioxidant level and grades of malignancy. Marked decrease in antioxidant levels may have a role in genesis of considerable oxidative stress in brain tumors. Further more, the degree of decline in antioxidant levels may indicate severity of malignancy in brain tumors.
http://www.cancerjournal.net/article.asp?issn=0973-1482;year=2006;volume=2;issue=1;spage=24;epage=27;aulast=Aggarwal;type=0
Brain tumor and role of β-carotene, a- tocopherol, superoxide dismutase and glutathione peroxidase
Aggarwal Sarita1, Subberwal Manju1, kumar Sushil2, Sharma Meenakshi 3
1 Department of Biochemistry, Maulana Azad Medical College, New Delhi, India
2 Deptt. of neurosurgery,G. B. Pant Hospital, New Delhi, India
3 Department of biochemistry and biotechnology National Institute of communicable diseases, New Delhi, India
Correspondence Address:
Subberwal Manju
146A/AG-1, Vikaspuri, New Delhi
India
manubansiwal@yahoo.co.in
The erythrocyte levels of the antioxidant enzymes SOD and GPx, and serum levels of antioxidants vitamins β -carotene and β -tocopherol were estimated in various types of brain tumors, and were compared with the levels in controls. Statistically significant (P<.001) diminished levels of β - carotene, β -tocopherol, SOD and GPx, were observed in all the brain tumor patients as compared to controls. Malignant tumor also showed a relative decrease in antioxidant levels as compared to benign tumors. Comparison of histopathological sections of brain tumors also suggested a inverse relationship between antioxidant level and grades of malignancy. Marked decrease in antioxidant levels may have a role in genesis of considerable oxidative stress in brain tumors. Further more, the degree of decline in antioxidant levels may indicate severity of malignancy in brain tumors.
http://www.cancerjournal.net/article.asp?issn=0973-1482;year=2006;volume=2;issue=1;spage=24;epage=27;aulast=Aggarwal;type=0
New York Times: Rising Incidence of Brain Tumors Is Drawing Attention and Concern
Now this was published 17 years ago so now it seems that the government agencies - tied to corporate interests - are perhaps trying to confuse by planting disinformation regarding a non-increase in Brain Tumors. I know so many people now that know someone who has, has had, or has died of a brain tumor. And they are trying to say it is because of better diagnotics - and not the fact that more and more people are mindlessly sticking miniture microwaves ovens up to their heads for a good percentage of their day. And the insanity continues...
paul
Rising Incidence of Brain Tumors Is Drawing Attention and Concern
By NATALIE ANGIER
Published: July 31, 1990
LEAD: A BRAIN tumor has long been the most terrifying of malignancies, feared for its lethality and its position at the source of all thought and emotion. And now experts say the incidence of brain cancer may be on the rise.
A BRAIN tumor has long been the most terrifying of malignancies, feared for its lethality and its position at the source of all thought and emotion. And now experts say the incidence of brain cancer may be on the rise.
New studies of epidemiological data from this country and abroad indicate that the rise is especially dramatic among the elderly, but scientists say that even among the young, the rate of at least one rare form of brain cancer is surging.
Other studies suggest that certain jobs may predispose workers or their children to brain cancer, and some researchers believe electromagnetic fields from power lines and power stations can help promote the growth of brain tumors, although many experts fiercely dispute the theory.
Experts Are Concerned
''Wherever I go, people ask me whether there's an increase in brain tumors,'' said Dr. Paul L. Kornblith, chairman of the neurosurgery department at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine and Montefiore Medical Center in New York. ''And an awful lot of people in my field have the impression that there is a greater incidence than there was before. They are concerned about it.''
Scientists emphasize that there is by no means an epidemic of brain cancer. They say the incidence of brain cancer remains very low for the population as a whole, accounting for about 1.5 percent of all malignancies. For most age groups, the rate of the two most common and deadly brain tumors, the gliomas and the astrocytomas, has been relatively stable for at least 20 years.
Experts stress that trends in brain cancer are especially difficult to sort out, largely because the technology for diagnosing brain tumors has sharply improved over the last 15 years. With the aid of advanced imaging methods like CAT scans and magnetic resonance imaging, or MRI, doctors are now able to diagnose brain cancers that in the past might have mistakenly been described as strokes, senile dementia or other neurological disorders.
''If we agree that we are diagnosing a greater number of patients with brain tumors than before, a lot of that could be explained by the increased sensitivity of diagnostic tools,'' said Dr. Edward H. Oldfield, chief of surgical neurology at the National Institute of Neurolgical Disorders and Stroke. ''When the CAT scan was introduced in the early 70's there was a big jump in the detection of brain tumors, and the MRI has an even greater sensitivity for detecting small tumors.''
Studies Track Increase
Yet recent studies indicate that certain patterns in brain cancer trends cannot be dismissed as a result superior diagnosis.
In one study, a new analysis of data collected by the National Cancer Institute's nationwide cancer surveillance program, researchers at the National Institute on Aging in Bethesda, Md., have determined that among people over the age of 75, the incidence of brain tumorsmore than doubled from 1968 to 1985, the last year for which statistics are available. For people over 80, the rate of increase was even more shocking, soaring by 300 percent to 400 percent over the 17-year period, or by as much as 23 percent a year. ''Better diagnosis can explain some of the rise,'' said Dr. Stanley I. Rapoport, chief of the laboratory of neuroscience at the Institute and the main author of the new report, which is to be published in The Journal of the National Cancer Institute. ''But something else is going on as well. Brain cancer in the elderly deserves more attention.''
Further confirming the Rapoport results, scientists at the National Research Council in Washington, the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm and other institutions recently compared mortality figures from about 1968 to 1987 for the United States, Britain, Italy, France, West Germany and Japan. They found that among people 65 and older, deaths from brain tumors rose in all nations at up to 200 percent for the period.
''There's a stunning increase in mortality'' from brain tumors, said Dr. Devra Lee Davis, an author of the paper, which is to appear in the December issue of The American Journal of Industrial Medicine. ''It holds true for all countries, a very sharp increase in a relatively short period of time.''
Dr. Davis said the increases in the six countries have continued long after the introduction of better imaging technology, indicating that improved diagnosis alone cannot explain the persistent rise.
Another Possible Cause
Among all age groups, the rate of a rare type of tumor, central nervous system lymphoma, which accounts for less than 5 percent of brain malignancies, has climbed 300 percent in 10 years. Experts say some of the rise is a result of AIDS, which makes people more susceptible to the malignancy. But others speculate that Epstein-Barr virus, which is becoming increasingly prevalent in the general population, may also be a cause.
Beyond the risk of primary tumors originating in brain tissue, malignancies that have spread to the brain from elsewhere in the body are rising rapidly. ''The longer people are surviving from cancers of the breast, lungs and other organs, the more chance they have that some of their tumor cells will metastasize to the brain,'' said Dr. William R. Shapiro, chairman of neurology at the Barrow Neurological Institute of St. Joseph's Hospital in Phoenix. Doctors emphasize that even among the elderly, the risk of brain cancer is low, and that any rise in occurrence is modest compared, for example, with the steep climb in malignant melanoma and lung cancer among women.
But they say brain cancer merits attention as an especially virulent disease for which there often is no treatment. The most prevalent types of brain tumors grow rapidly, spreading tumorous fingers into surrounding tissue and often killing within a year of diagnosis.
''Brain cancer is an awful, depressing cancer,'' said Nigel H. Greig of the National Institute on Aging, a co-author of the Rapoport paper. ''It has one of the worst prognoses of all cancers. It's almost invariably fatal. It's lagged behind other cancers in chemotherapy and treatment, and survival time has not improved.''
For that reason, experts say, it is worth trying to determine why brain cancer seems to be rising among older groups, and to eliminate whatever risk factors can be identified. Dr. Davis says that to understand why brain tumors are on the rise in the elderly, researchers must consider the past.
''You must look at those aspects of the world that changed 30 or 40 yers ago, because the latency period for brain cancer is that long,'' she said.
Speculating on such aspects, she points out that several decades ago, many more people worked in industrial, blue-collar jobs than do now, and that factories are often full of hazardous chemicals, running the gamut of the periodic table. ''There's no question that proportionally more people used to work in dirtier places,'' she said.
The high proportion of factory workers may partly explain why brain tumors are now showing up in many industrial nations. Assuming the workplace is now cleaner than it was, Dr. Davis said, the incidence of brain cancer may begin to drop in the future. But she believes that other chemicals in the environment, like pesticides, will compensate for any improvements in the workplace.
Dr. Davis believes that poor diet may be part of the reason for the rise in brain cancer. In the past, she said, people tended to pickle their meats and fish with suspected carcinogens like nitrites, and they ate few fresh vegetables and fruits, which contain anti-oxidants and other compounds thought to act as anti-cancer agents. Other researchers note that in the past, doctors and dentists were more cavalier in using X-rays and other forms of high-energy, or ionizing, radiation, now known to mutate DNA and wreak destruction in cells.
A number of researchers are now investigating the possibility that even low-energy, or non-ionizing, radiation, may somehow promote the growth of brain tumors. They contend that electromagnetic fields from power lines, power stations and even common household appliances can be a health hazard. But many experts dispute those assertions. They say that, unlike ionizing radiation, which strips apart atoms and damages DNA, electricity is non-ionizing and is not thought to mutate genetic material. Nevertheless, some experts suggest electromagnetic fields could subtly increase the risk of cancer, particularly high-voltage currents and alternating currents generated by large power stations and substations.
Writing in a recent issue of The New Yorker, the journalist Paul Brodeur discussed an apparent cluster of brain tumors on a street in Guilford, Conn., near a power substation. In a report in May, the Environmental Protection Agency said that there was a possible link between cancer and low-level electromagnetic fields, but that there still was not enough evidence to conclude that the fields directly caused cancer. In one study, Dr. David A. Savitz, an epidemiologist at the School of Public Health at the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill, and colleagues considered all cases of childhood cancer from 1976 to 1983 in the Denver area.
Samples Are Small They concluded that children who live near power lines that expose them to powerful electromagnetic fields had a 50 percent greater chance of developing brain tumors than those who did not live near power lines. But they said the samples were small and other potential health hazards in the environments considered had not been ruled out. Many experts insist the studies are inconclusive and contradictory. ''People are being very much alarmed over something for which there is no real evidence whatsoever,'' said Dr. Eleanor R. Adair of the John B. Pierce Laboratory at the Center for Research in Health and the Environment, an affiliate of Yale University. ''Electricity has been around for a long, long time, and people's life expectancy has nearly doubled since the invention of the light bulb.''
paul
Rising Incidence of Brain Tumors Is Drawing Attention and Concern
By NATALIE ANGIER
Published: July 31, 1990
LEAD: A BRAIN tumor has long been the most terrifying of malignancies, feared for its lethality and its position at the source of all thought and emotion. And now experts say the incidence of brain cancer may be on the rise.
A BRAIN tumor has long been the most terrifying of malignancies, feared for its lethality and its position at the source of all thought and emotion. And now experts say the incidence of brain cancer may be on the rise.
New studies of epidemiological data from this country and abroad indicate that the rise is especially dramatic among the elderly, but scientists say that even among the young, the rate of at least one rare form of brain cancer is surging.
Other studies suggest that certain jobs may predispose workers or their children to brain cancer, and some researchers believe electromagnetic fields from power lines and power stations can help promote the growth of brain tumors, although many experts fiercely dispute the theory.
Experts Are Concerned
''Wherever I go, people ask me whether there's an increase in brain tumors,'' said Dr. Paul L. Kornblith, chairman of the neurosurgery department at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine and Montefiore Medical Center in New York. ''And an awful lot of people in my field have the impression that there is a greater incidence than there was before. They are concerned about it.''
Scientists emphasize that there is by no means an epidemic of brain cancer. They say the incidence of brain cancer remains very low for the population as a whole, accounting for about 1.5 percent of all malignancies. For most age groups, the rate of the two most common and deadly brain tumors, the gliomas and the astrocytomas, has been relatively stable for at least 20 years.
Experts stress that trends in brain cancer are especially difficult to sort out, largely because the technology for diagnosing brain tumors has sharply improved over the last 15 years. With the aid of advanced imaging methods like CAT scans and magnetic resonance imaging, or MRI, doctors are now able to diagnose brain cancers that in the past might have mistakenly been described as strokes, senile dementia or other neurological disorders.
''If we agree that we are diagnosing a greater number of patients with brain tumors than before, a lot of that could be explained by the increased sensitivity of diagnostic tools,'' said Dr. Edward H. Oldfield, chief of surgical neurology at the National Institute of Neurolgical Disorders and Stroke. ''When the CAT scan was introduced in the early 70's there was a big jump in the detection of brain tumors, and the MRI has an even greater sensitivity for detecting small tumors.''
Studies Track Increase
Yet recent studies indicate that certain patterns in brain cancer trends cannot be dismissed as a result superior diagnosis.
In one study, a new analysis of data collected by the National Cancer Institute's nationwide cancer surveillance program, researchers at the National Institute on Aging in Bethesda, Md., have determined that among people over the age of 75, the incidence of brain tumorsmore than doubled from 1968 to 1985, the last year for which statistics are available. For people over 80, the rate of increase was even more shocking, soaring by 300 percent to 400 percent over the 17-year period, or by as much as 23 percent a year. ''Better diagnosis can explain some of the rise,'' said Dr. Stanley I. Rapoport, chief of the laboratory of neuroscience at the Institute and the main author of the new report, which is to be published in The Journal of the National Cancer Institute. ''But something else is going on as well. Brain cancer in the elderly deserves more attention.''
Further confirming the Rapoport results, scientists at the National Research Council in Washington, the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm and other institutions recently compared mortality figures from about 1968 to 1987 for the United States, Britain, Italy, France, West Germany and Japan. They found that among people 65 and older, deaths from brain tumors rose in all nations at up to 200 percent for the period.
''There's a stunning increase in mortality'' from brain tumors, said Dr. Devra Lee Davis, an author of the paper, which is to appear in the December issue of The American Journal of Industrial Medicine. ''It holds true for all countries, a very sharp increase in a relatively short period of time.''
Dr. Davis said the increases in the six countries have continued long after the introduction of better imaging technology, indicating that improved diagnosis alone cannot explain the persistent rise.
Another Possible Cause
Among all age groups, the rate of a rare type of tumor, central nervous system lymphoma, which accounts for less than 5 percent of brain malignancies, has climbed 300 percent in 10 years. Experts say some of the rise is a result of AIDS, which makes people more susceptible to the malignancy. But others speculate that Epstein-Barr virus, which is becoming increasingly prevalent in the general population, may also be a cause.
Beyond the risk of primary tumors originating in brain tissue, malignancies that have spread to the brain from elsewhere in the body are rising rapidly. ''The longer people are surviving from cancers of the breast, lungs and other organs, the more chance they have that some of their tumor cells will metastasize to the brain,'' said Dr. William R. Shapiro, chairman of neurology at the Barrow Neurological Institute of St. Joseph's Hospital in Phoenix. Doctors emphasize that even among the elderly, the risk of brain cancer is low, and that any rise in occurrence is modest compared, for example, with the steep climb in malignant melanoma and lung cancer among women.
But they say brain cancer merits attention as an especially virulent disease for which there often is no treatment. The most prevalent types of brain tumors grow rapidly, spreading tumorous fingers into surrounding tissue and often killing within a year of diagnosis.
''Brain cancer is an awful, depressing cancer,'' said Nigel H. Greig of the National Institute on Aging, a co-author of the Rapoport paper. ''It has one of the worst prognoses of all cancers. It's almost invariably fatal. It's lagged behind other cancers in chemotherapy and treatment, and survival time has not improved.''
For that reason, experts say, it is worth trying to determine why brain cancer seems to be rising among older groups, and to eliminate whatever risk factors can be identified. Dr. Davis says that to understand why brain tumors are on the rise in the elderly, researchers must consider the past.
''You must look at those aspects of the world that changed 30 or 40 yers ago, because the latency period for brain cancer is that long,'' she said.
Speculating on such aspects, she points out that several decades ago, many more people worked in industrial, blue-collar jobs than do now, and that factories are often full of hazardous chemicals, running the gamut of the periodic table. ''There's no question that proportionally more people used to work in dirtier places,'' she said.
The high proportion of factory workers may partly explain why brain tumors are now showing up in many industrial nations. Assuming the workplace is now cleaner than it was, Dr. Davis said, the incidence of brain cancer may begin to drop in the future. But she believes that other chemicals in the environment, like pesticides, will compensate for any improvements in the workplace.
Dr. Davis believes that poor diet may be part of the reason for the rise in brain cancer. In the past, she said, people tended to pickle their meats and fish with suspected carcinogens like nitrites, and they ate few fresh vegetables and fruits, which contain anti-oxidants and other compounds thought to act as anti-cancer agents. Other researchers note that in the past, doctors and dentists were more cavalier in using X-rays and other forms of high-energy, or ionizing, radiation, now known to mutate DNA and wreak destruction in cells.
A number of researchers are now investigating the possibility that even low-energy, or non-ionizing, radiation, may somehow promote the growth of brain tumors. They contend that electromagnetic fields from power lines, power stations and even common household appliances can be a health hazard. But many experts dispute those assertions. They say that, unlike ionizing radiation, which strips apart atoms and damages DNA, electricity is non-ionizing and is not thought to mutate genetic material. Nevertheless, some experts suggest electromagnetic fields could subtly increase the risk of cancer, particularly high-voltage currents and alternating currents generated by large power stations and substations.
Writing in a recent issue of The New Yorker, the journalist Paul Brodeur discussed an apparent cluster of brain tumors on a street in Guilford, Conn., near a power substation. In a report in May, the Environmental Protection Agency said that there was a possible link between cancer and low-level electromagnetic fields, but that there still was not enough evidence to conclude that the fields directly caused cancer. In one study, Dr. David A. Savitz, an epidemiologist at the School of Public Health at the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill, and colleagues considered all cases of childhood cancer from 1976 to 1983 in the Denver area.
Samples Are Small They concluded that children who live near power lines that expose them to powerful electromagnetic fields had a 50 percent greater chance of developing brain tumors than those who did not live near power lines. But they said the samples were small and other potential health hazards in the environments considered had not been ruled out. Many experts insist the studies are inconclusive and contradictory. ''People are being very much alarmed over something for which there is no real evidence whatsoever,'' said Dr. Eleanor R. Adair of the John B. Pierce Laboratory at the Center for Research in Health and the Environment, an affiliate of Yale University. ''Electricity has been around for a long, long time, and people's life expectancy has nearly doubled since the invention of the light bulb.''
Brain Tumor Statistics: Now (as of 2002) Leading Cause of Death in Children Surpassing Leukemia
Facts about Brain Tumors
Each year more than 200,000 people in the United States are diagnosed with a primary or metastatic brain tumor. Primary brain tumors comprise approximately 40,000 of these diagnoses.(1) Brain tumors are the leading cause of solid tumor cancer death in children under the age of 20, now surpassing acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL). They are the second leading cause of cancer death in male adults ages 20-29 and the fifth leading cause of cancer death in female adults ages 20-39. (2,5) Metastatic brain tumors, cancer that spreads from other parts of the body to the brain, are the most common types of brain tumors. They occur in 10-15% of people with cancer. Primary brain tumors generally do not metastasize to other parts of the body. (3) There are over 120 different types of brain tumors, which make effective treatment complicated. They can be malignant or non-malignant (benign), and in either case, can be just as injurious or life threatening. At present, the standard treatments for brain tumors include surgery, radiation therapy, and chemotherapy. These may be used either individually or in combination. Brain tumors in children are different from those in adults, and consequently, are treated differently. As many as 69% of children will survive, but they are often left with long-term side effects.(5) There are currently no known causes of brain tumors, however, epidemiological studies are ongoing. Complete and accurate data on all primary brain tumors is needed to provide the foundation for investigations of its causes and research leading to improved diagnosis and treatment. Brain tumors have no socio-economic boundaries and do not discriminate among gender or ethnicity.
At this time, brain tumor research is underfunded and the public remains unaware of the magnitude of this disease. The cure rate for most brain tumors is significantly lower than that for many other types of cancer. The Brain Tumor Society is driven by these facts and remains committed to our mission to find a cure for brain tumors. We improve the quality of life for those already affected by a brain tumor diagnosis, by providing information and support, and we fund carefully-selected research proejcts to enhance treatments and to find a cure.
http://www.tbts.org/itemDetail.asp?categoryID=384&itemID=16535
Brain Tumor Statistics
Brain tumors are the leading cause of death from childhood cancers among persons up to 19 years old (1)
3,200 new childhood primary malignant and non malignant and central nervous systems tumors are expected to be diagnosed in 2004.
Of those, 2,450 will be in children under the age of 15 (2)
In 2004 it is anticipated that there will be 12.690 deaths due to primary malignant brain tumors (3)
Brain tumors are the second leading cause of cancer related deaths in males ages 20-39
Brain tumors are the fifth leading cause of cancer-related deaths in women ages 20-39
359,000 is the estimated number of people living with a diagnosis of a brain tumor in the United States in the year 2000 Brain tumors affect people from all walks of life. They do not care what color your skin is, how old you are, or how much money you made last year Five year survival rates are a mere 27.9% in males and 30.1% in females (4)
The ten year survival rate is even more shocking
http://thinkaboutbraintumors.org/index2.cfm
IS THERE AN INCREASE IN THE INCIDENCE OF BRAIN TUMORS?
The answer to that is possibly!
The number of metastatic brain tumors is increasing largely due to the improvement in treating systemic cancer. Cancer patients are living longer which allows a greater opportunity for stray cancer cells to find their way to the brain.
A recent article in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute (Greig, N, Ries, L. "Increasing Annual Incidence of Primary Malignant Brain Tumors in the Elderly." Journal of the National Cancer Institute 82: 1621-1623, 1990) compared the incidence rates in 1973 and 1985 and concluded that there was an increase in the number of primary brain tumors diagnosed, especially in the elderly.
That article raises some very interesting, but unanswered questions.
1. Is the reported increase "real" or it is due to better diagnostic methods? The use of scans has made the diagnosis of brain tumors relatively easy. The CT became available in the mid '70s, and the MRI in the early '80s. It is therefore possible that earlier incidence figures were grossly under-reported because of failure to diagnose.
2. More awareness of the prevalence of this disease by physicians, and more informed medical consumerism may also have affected the statistics during the interval studied.
3. Much more research is needed before the questions of increased incidence can be answered.
4. In order to know if numbers are increasing, we must first know what they were in the past. Unfortunately, that information isn't available. The numbers that are available are obtained from National Cancer Institute (NCI) studies of the incidence of primary malignant brain tumors in selected geographic areas throughout the United States. It is not known, therefore, if the incidence of benign and metastatic tumors is also increasing.
http://www.neurooncology.ucla.edu/DisplaySubCat.asp?C=2&SC=7&R=39
Are the numbers on the rise?
Yes. From 1980 to 2000, there was an increase of nearly 50% in the estimated number of new cases of Malignant Brain/Central Nervous System tumors in the United States. (2)
http://www.khgfoundation.org/brain_tumor_facts/fact.htm
Firstly, they analysed the cancer statistics gathered by the U.S. National Cancer Institute from catchment areas representing approximately 10% of the U.S. population for the period since 1975. They found that the introduction of aspartame into the USA, into dry goods in 1981 and soft drinks in 1983, was followed by an abrupt increase (of approximately 10%) in the reported incidence of brain tumours. The change was most noticeable between 1984 and 1985, and it corresponded to approximately 1,500 extra cases of brain cancer per year in the USA.
http://webhome.idirect.com/~wolfnowl/aspartame5.htm
1984 was also the year the first commercial First Generation (1G) cell phone network was set up in the USA.
Each year more than 200,000 people in the United States are diagnosed with a primary or metastatic brain tumor. Primary brain tumors comprise approximately 40,000 of these diagnoses.(1) Brain tumors are the leading cause of solid tumor cancer death in children under the age of 20, now surpassing acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL). They are the second leading cause of cancer death in male adults ages 20-29 and the fifth leading cause of cancer death in female adults ages 20-39. (2,5) Metastatic brain tumors, cancer that spreads from other parts of the body to the brain, are the most common types of brain tumors. They occur in 10-15% of people with cancer. Primary brain tumors generally do not metastasize to other parts of the body. (3) There are over 120 different types of brain tumors, which make effective treatment complicated. They can be malignant or non-malignant (benign), and in either case, can be just as injurious or life threatening. At present, the standard treatments for brain tumors include surgery, radiation therapy, and chemotherapy. These may be used either individually or in combination. Brain tumors in children are different from those in adults, and consequently, are treated differently. As many as 69% of children will survive, but they are often left with long-term side effects.(5) There are currently no known causes of brain tumors, however, epidemiological studies are ongoing. Complete and accurate data on all primary brain tumors is needed to provide the foundation for investigations of its causes and research leading to improved diagnosis and treatment. Brain tumors have no socio-economic boundaries and do not discriminate among gender or ethnicity.
At this time, brain tumor research is underfunded and the public remains unaware of the magnitude of this disease. The cure rate for most brain tumors is significantly lower than that for many other types of cancer. The Brain Tumor Society is driven by these facts and remains committed to our mission to find a cure for brain tumors. We improve the quality of life for those already affected by a brain tumor diagnosis, by providing information and support, and we fund carefully-selected research proejcts to enhance treatments and to find a cure.
http://www.tbts.org/itemDetail.asp?categoryID=384&itemID=16535
Brain Tumor Statistics
Brain tumors are the leading cause of death from childhood cancers among persons up to 19 years old (1)
3,200 new childhood primary malignant and non malignant and central nervous systems tumors are expected to be diagnosed in 2004.
Of those, 2,450 will be in children under the age of 15 (2)
In 2004 it is anticipated that there will be 12.690 deaths due to primary malignant brain tumors (3)
Brain tumors are the second leading cause of cancer related deaths in males ages 20-39
Brain tumors are the fifth leading cause of cancer-related deaths in women ages 20-39
359,000 is the estimated number of people living with a diagnosis of a brain tumor in the United States in the year 2000 Brain tumors affect people from all walks of life. They do not care what color your skin is, how old you are, or how much money you made last year Five year survival rates are a mere 27.9% in males and 30.1% in females (4)
The ten year survival rate is even more shocking
http://thinkaboutbraintumors.org/index2.cfm
IS THERE AN INCREASE IN THE INCIDENCE OF BRAIN TUMORS?
The answer to that is possibly!
The number of metastatic brain tumors is increasing largely due to the improvement in treating systemic cancer. Cancer patients are living longer which allows a greater opportunity for stray cancer cells to find their way to the brain.
A recent article in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute (Greig, N, Ries, L. "Increasing Annual Incidence of Primary Malignant Brain Tumors in the Elderly." Journal of the National Cancer Institute 82: 1621-1623, 1990) compared the incidence rates in 1973 and 1985 and concluded that there was an increase in the number of primary brain tumors diagnosed, especially in the elderly.
That article raises some very interesting, but unanswered questions.
1. Is the reported increase "real" or it is due to better diagnostic methods? The use of scans has made the diagnosis of brain tumors relatively easy. The CT became available in the mid '70s, and the MRI in the early '80s. It is therefore possible that earlier incidence figures were grossly under-reported because of failure to diagnose.
2. More awareness of the prevalence of this disease by physicians, and more informed medical consumerism may also have affected the statistics during the interval studied.
3. Much more research is needed before the questions of increased incidence can be answered.
4. In order to know if numbers are increasing, we must first know what they were in the past. Unfortunately, that information isn't available. The numbers that are available are obtained from National Cancer Institute (NCI) studies of the incidence of primary malignant brain tumors in selected geographic areas throughout the United States. It is not known, therefore, if the incidence of benign and metastatic tumors is also increasing.
http://www.neurooncology.ucla.edu/DisplaySubCat.asp?C=2&SC=7&R=39
Are the numbers on the rise?
Yes. From 1980 to 2000, there was an increase of nearly 50% in the estimated number of new cases of Malignant Brain/Central Nervous System tumors in the United States. (2)
http://www.khgfoundation.org/brain_tumor_facts/fact.htm
Firstly, they analysed the cancer statistics gathered by the U.S. National Cancer Institute from catchment areas representing approximately 10% of the U.S. population for the period since 1975. They found that the introduction of aspartame into the USA, into dry goods in 1981 and soft drinks in 1983, was followed by an abrupt increase (of approximately 10%) in the reported incidence of brain tumours. The change was most noticeable between 1984 and 1985, and it corresponded to approximately 1,500 extra cases of brain cancer per year in the USA.
http://webhome.idirect.com/~wolfnowl/aspartame5.htm
1984 was also the year the first commercial First Generation (1G) cell phone network was set up in the USA.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)