Koreans Again Link AM Radio to Childhood Leukemia
RFI Tops Health in U.S. Tower Siting Battle
July 13, 2007
When the residents of the Oak Hill Park community in the Boston suburb of Newton fought the expansion of a local 5kW AM station, WNUR, they complained about radiofrequency interference (RFI)—to their telephones, stereos, VCRs, wheelchairs and baby monitors. They also objected to the possible effects on local wildlife, particularly to the blue-spotted salamander. And they worried about the visual blight posed by the towers.
What community activists hardly mentioned were the possible impacts on their health.
Bob Sklar, who has a doctorate in molecular biology, was one of the few exceptions. Even with WNUR's power at 5 kW, he and his family had trouble sleeping and suffered from severe headaches. Fighting the plan to increase the total AM power output to up to 150kW, Sklar warned that the proposed higher power levels "will produce serious health effects in the area."
When asked by Microwave News why the others had left the health issue on the back burner, Sklar replied, "We were told it's not a winning issue. The consensus was to not raise it."
That may now change.
In the largest and most detailed study of AM radio radiation to date, a team led by Mina Ha of South Korea's Dankook University in South Korea has found that children living within 2km of an AM transmitter had more than twice the risk of developing leukemia, compared to those living more than 20km away. The study, which included 36 cases of children with leukemia living within 2km of an AM station, will appear in the August 1 issue of the American Journal of Epidemiology and is already available on the journal's Web site.
"The results of this study suggest a possible carcinogenic effect of AM RF [radiation] exposure on children, particularly with regard to lymphocytic leukemia," Ha concludes. This is Ha's third epidemiological study of cancer in the vicinity of AM radio stations. The other two, published in 2003 and 2004, also pointed to a cancer risk. (See also MWN, S/O02, p.16.)
Ha told Microwave News that while the observed risk was significant, she would like to see it replicated in another study. Ha's study included 31 AM stations operating at 20kW or more.
Five years ago, a group of Italian researchers headed by Paola Michelozzi found higher rates of childhood leukemia around the Radio Vatican transmitters in Cesano outside Rome (see MWN, M/A01, p.6; S/O01 p.9; M/J02 p.4; J/A02 p.14). Radio Vatican operates at a number of different frequencies, in both the AM and shortwave (4-21MHz) bands.
When Ha compared cases and controls relative to estimated RF exposures, she found that the risk was significantly higher for those in the second and third exposure quartiles, but not in the 25% most exposed children. Nevertheless there was a trend of increased risk of lymphocytic leukemia with increased RF exposure, which was of borderline significance. (There was no parallel trend with distance from a transmitter.)
Regarding the lack of an association among those who are most exposed to RF, Ha suggested that it might be due to "decreasing statistical power" or to a "bystander effect."
Ha estimates that the electric field at 2km from the AM transmitters ranged from 1V/m to 3V/m —approximately 0.26µW/cm2 to 2.4µW/cm2.
Oak Hill Park Is Within 2Km of AM Tower
The entire Oak Hill Park community in Newton, outside Boston, lies within 2 km of WNUR's 5kW transmitter. Approximately 1,000 to 1,500 people live there.
About 45 of the homes in the neighborhood are exposed to RF levels of 6.1 V/m (10µW/cm2) or more, with some 400 homes above 1.9V/m (1µW/cm2), according to an analysis by Richard Temkin, a research physicist at MIT and, like Sklar, a former long-time resident of Oak Hill Park. Temkin estimated that if the power output were to be increased to 150kW, thousands of homes in Newton would be exposed to 1.9V/m or more.
Temkin's case against the power upgrade was based almost exclusively on RFI. He was one of those who argued against basing the community's appeal on health concerns, according to Sklar. Temkin did not respond to repeated requests for an interview.
The power output of the AM broadcasts in Newton will soon jump from 5kW to 95kW, and possibly even higher. Yet, even at 5kW, Oak Hill residents could hear music from the radio station coming from all sorts of electronic equipment as well as water pipes, heaters and toilets. "We're all fearful that all the interference problems will increase exponentially," one resident told the Boston Globe in the fall of 2005, after a court ruled that the plan to upgrade the AM station could move forward.
In an August 17, 2005 decision, Charles Trombly Jr of the Massachusetts Land Court had ruled against all the objections raised by the town of Newton on the basis that the FCC has the "sole power" to regulate radio stations and any RFI. A month earlier the town aldermen had voted unanimously to deny the three broadcasterrs a permit to expand.
While the residents hardly raised the health issue, the radio stations brought in two consulting firms that help corporations mired in EMF and RF health disputes: Gradient Corp and Exponent. A report prepared by Gradient's Peter Valberg concluded that "careful review of the whole body of literature… have [sic] not identified reasons to believe that the current RF safety standards are not protective of public health." Exponent's Linda Erdreich also prepared a report that sought to reassure the town that there was little to worry about.
Valberg did his own RF measurements. He found that the RF levels were somewhat higher than those estimated by Temkin. Valberg's highest reading was 13.7V/m (50µW/cm2) with average readings in Oak Park of 3.8V/m (3.8µW/cm2) during the night and 4.9V/m (6.4µW/cm2) during the day. Jim Hatfield of Hatfield and Dawson, a consulting firm in Seattle, also did an RF survey for the three AM stations [Hatfield's report is appended to Valberg's report].
(For comparison, the FCC and the IEEE/ANSI exposure standards for AM frequencies are both 614V/m (100,000µW/cm2). The ICNIRP standard is 87V/m (2,007µW/cm2).
Valberg and Exponent's Bill Bailey are currenly involved in establishing siting policy for power lines in Connecticut (see our January 19, 2007 story).
Osepchuk Sides with the Residents
One ironic aspect of the Newton battle is that John Osepchuk, one of the chief architects of the IEEE/ANSI standard, argued against the AM upgrade, while the Silent Spring Institute, a local environmental group, offered no help, telling Bob Sklar that its focus was on chemical pollutants.
"Even at 5kW, you can hear sounds from baseboard heaters," Osepchuk told Microwave News. He stressed that the problem is not the ambient fields but the current in the wires and pipes. "The shocks and burns are annoying and people should not have to put up with them." In 1995, after spending most of his career at Raytheon, Osepchuk opened his own firm, Full Spectrum Consulting in Concord, MA.
Osepchuk expressed dismay at the FCC's refusal to address the side effects of AM radiation, such as the "tingles and sound generation" —pointing out that the commission had deferred setting limits on contacts and induced currents. But Osepchuk reserved the greatest contempt for the judge's decision overruling Newton's decision not to grant the AM stations a permit. "The judge says that those who are 'aggrieved' by his decision can always complain to the FCC —is he kidding?"
* * * * *
Spokane AM Station Moved After Parents Raised Health Concerns
In Spokane, WA, parents succeeded in moving KGA's 50kW AM radio tramsmitter away from the Mullan Road Elementary School next door—but only after a more than decade-long battle over possible health impacts.
The towers came down in August 1997; the parents had raised concerns as early as May 1985. The families were put on the alert after the Washington Post published a list of more than 200 radio stations across the country, including some in Spokane, which might cause excessive radiation exposure (see MWN, My85). Even earlier, when the school was being built in the late 1970s, workers complained of getting electrical shocks from the KGA tower radiation. The school later installed electrical grounding to the roof to mitigate this problem.
In 1987, an EPA-FCC team, which included then EPA's Ed Mantiply and FCC's Bob Cleveland, measured an electric field of 13.9V/m (51.2µW/cm2 at the front door of the school —an exceptionally high reading for a publicly accessible area, though well within the current FCC exposure standard (see report No.EPA/520/6-88/008).
(Mantiply is now with the FCC's RF safety program; Cleveland retired from the FCC earlier this year.)
In 1986, KGA was sued by the family of Janice DiLuzio, who had died in 1982 of multiple myeloma. The DiLuzios had moved to a house approximately 600 feet from KGA's 50kW transmitter in 1972. The wrongful death suit was settled out of court and the details of the settlement were kept confidential (see MWN, S/O86 and S/O89).
* * * * *
AM Radiation Levels in the U.S.
It's been a long time since the EPA or the FCC surveyed the RF radiation levels in the vicinity of AM radio stations.
In 1991, Ed Mantiply and Bob Cleveland measured the electric and magnetic fields at distances of up to 100m from eight AM broadcast stations. According to their report, the electric fields 2m from the base of a 50kW transmitter was 491V/m (63,947µW/cm2). At a distance of 100m, the electric field was on the order of 20-30V/m (106-238µW/cm2).
Back in mid-1970s, the EPA surveyed the RF levels at 193 sites in seven U.S. cities (Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Miami, New York, Philadelphia and Washington DC). The highest reading in the 0-2MHz band was 1.9V/m (0.94µW/cm2) on Bird Drive Park in Miami. (See report No.EPA-520/2-77-008, May 1978.) FCC's Mantiply was also a member of that EPA measurement team, as was Norb Hankin, who today still works in the EPA's Washington office.
There are approximately 4,800 AM stations in the U.S., operating in the 520kHz to 1.6MHz frequency band. Their maximum power authorized power is 50kW. European transmitters can use higher power levels.
Some Korean AM stations operate at much higher power levels than those in the U.S. Mina Ha's study included four at 1,000kW and one at 1,500kW. The original purpose of the 1,500kW station was to broadcast political messages over the DMZ into North Korea, Ha said.
Best,
Louis Slesin
__________________________________________________________
Louis Slesin, PhD
Editor, Microwave News
A Report on Non-Ionizing Radiation
Phone: +1 (212) 517-2800; Fax: +1 (212) 734-0316E-mail: ;
Internet:
Mail: 155 East 77th Street, Suite 3D
New York, NY 10075, U.S.A.
http://www.emfacts.com/weblog/index.php?p=764
------------------------------------------------------
Saturday, July 14, 2007
Tank Driver Claims Electromagnetic Radiation Caused Brain Injury
A colleague who would not be named said the man who stole the tank had a "vendetta'' against phone towers. "He told us he'd worked for a government agency where he had to work around the towers and got radiation poisoning. So he planned out a map of where the towers were that he wanted to destroy.''
TANK VANDAL OUT FOR REVENGE
By Brenden Hills, Ellen Connolly
July 15, 2007 12:00am
A FORMER Telstra worker allegedly stole a tank and used it to demolish six mobile phone towers as he led police on a wild two-hour rampage through western Sydney yesterday.
More than 20 police chased the tank but were powerless to stop it, retreating to a safe distance as the huge vehicle cut a path of destruction through six suburbs.
They could only watch as the driver, hanging out of the top at times, allegedly rammed the tank through fences and into six mobile phone towers, telecommunication relay sheds and an electrical substation.
The damage caused major disruptions to mobile phone services in Sydney's west yesterday.
The divorced father allegedly stole the 1967 Trojan armoured personnel carrier (APC) from his former workplace, A One Lift Truck Service, at Minchinbury.
His former boss, Greg Morris, said the man had a beef with mobile phone towers.
"He used to work for Telstra and told us he was going through a medical claim for his head injury.
He said something about the radiation from the towers had caused it,'' Mr Morris said.
"He actually worked on the tank he stole, doing a lot of wiring and putting the engine in.''
The drama began at 2am when the ex-British Army tank - complete with steel tracks and replica gun turret - was taken from a holding shed and headed straight for its first target: an electricity substation at Michinbury.
The tank then allegedly rammed a police car as it drove from the Mount Druitt Hospital car park.
At its maximum speed of 52km/h per hour, it continued on through the suburbs of Mount Druitt, Dharruk, Emerton, Glendenning and Plumpton with 10 police vehicles in pursuit.
Several times police were forced to retreat when the driver allegedly swung the tank towards them.
He taunted police by leaning his head out the side window to wave at them.
The joyride ended at 4am when the vehicle stalled as the driver attempted to destroy a seventh mobile phone tower.
Police used capsicum sprayto subdue the man, who was dragged head first from the tank by officers.
Mr Morris said he bought the tank from the British military.
He restored the vehicle, which is valued at $1 million, and he hires it out for weddings and for motor shows.
A colleague who would not be named said the man who stole the tank had a "vendetta'' against phone towers.
"He told us he'd worked for a government agency where he had to work around the towers and got radiation poisoning.
"So he planned out a map of where the towers were that he wanted to destroy.''
Mr Morris said he was "devastated'' at the news.
"I can't believe it," he said.
Mr Morris described the man responsible for the carnage as a "quiet, well spoken'' man.
He left in December but Mr Morris saw him often.
"We were mates, he'd call in for a chat and a few beers.'
"The problem he's got is not with us. It's just that it's the tool he needed to do it.''
The chase attracted a lot of attention with drivers following the tank.
"It's not something you see in Mount Druitt every day,'' William Errington, 26, said.
Another local resident expressed similar disbelief after being woken up by her partner to chase the tank.
"Mick said we were going to follow a tank and I thought yeah a fuel tanker. Then the thing drove past us,'' said Oakhurst resident "Ally''.
Mount Druitt Chief Inspector Guy Habberly said the man had not been drinking and did not appear to be affected by drugs.
Yesterday John Robert Patterson, 45, of Dharruk, appeared in Parramatta Court charged with stealing the tank, dangerous driving and malicious damage.
He did not enter a plea or apply for bail and he was remanded to appear in Penrith Court tomorrow.
His defence lawyer Ivan Bertoia told the court that in a police interview his client "suggested he had the authority to behave in such a manner''.
Magistrate Terry Forbes said there was a strong case to be made for the case to be dealt with under the Mental Health Act.
TANK VANDAL OUT FOR REVENGE
By Brenden Hills, Ellen Connolly
July 15, 2007 12:00am
A FORMER Telstra worker allegedly stole a tank and used it to demolish six mobile phone towers as he led police on a wild two-hour rampage through western Sydney yesterday.
More than 20 police chased the tank but were powerless to stop it, retreating to a safe distance as the huge vehicle cut a path of destruction through six suburbs.
They could only watch as the driver, hanging out of the top at times, allegedly rammed the tank through fences and into six mobile phone towers, telecommunication relay sheds and an electrical substation.
The damage caused major disruptions to mobile phone services in Sydney's west yesterday.
The divorced father allegedly stole the 1967 Trojan armoured personnel carrier (APC) from his former workplace, A One Lift Truck Service, at Minchinbury.
His former boss, Greg Morris, said the man had a beef with mobile phone towers.
"He used to work for Telstra and told us he was going through a medical claim for his head injury.
He said something about the radiation from the towers had caused it,'' Mr Morris said.
"He actually worked on the tank he stole, doing a lot of wiring and putting the engine in.''
The drama began at 2am when the ex-British Army tank - complete with steel tracks and replica gun turret - was taken from a holding shed and headed straight for its first target: an electricity substation at Michinbury.
The tank then allegedly rammed a police car as it drove from the Mount Druitt Hospital car park.
At its maximum speed of 52km/h per hour, it continued on through the suburbs of Mount Druitt, Dharruk, Emerton, Glendenning and Plumpton with 10 police vehicles in pursuit.
Several times police were forced to retreat when the driver allegedly swung the tank towards them.
He taunted police by leaning his head out the side window to wave at them.
The joyride ended at 4am when the vehicle stalled as the driver attempted to destroy a seventh mobile phone tower.
Police used capsicum sprayto subdue the man, who was dragged head first from the tank by officers.
Mr Morris said he bought the tank from the British military.
He restored the vehicle, which is valued at $1 million, and he hires it out for weddings and for motor shows.
A colleague who would not be named said the man who stole the tank had a "vendetta'' against phone towers.
"He told us he'd worked for a government agency where he had to work around the towers and got radiation poisoning.
"So he planned out a map of where the towers were that he wanted to destroy.''
Mr Morris said he was "devastated'' at the news.
"I can't believe it," he said.
Mr Morris described the man responsible for the carnage as a "quiet, well spoken'' man.
He left in December but Mr Morris saw him often.
"We were mates, he'd call in for a chat and a few beers.'
"The problem he's got is not with us. It's just that it's the tool he needed to do it.''
The chase attracted a lot of attention with drivers following the tank.
"It's not something you see in Mount Druitt every day,'' William Errington, 26, said.
Another local resident expressed similar disbelief after being woken up by her partner to chase the tank.
"Mick said we were going to follow a tank and I thought yeah a fuel tanker. Then the thing drove past us,'' said Oakhurst resident "Ally''.
Mount Druitt Chief Inspector Guy Habberly said the man had not been drinking and did not appear to be affected by drugs.
Yesterday John Robert Patterson, 45, of Dharruk, appeared in Parramatta Court charged with stealing the tank, dangerous driving and malicious damage.
He did not enter a plea or apply for bail and he was remanded to appear in Penrith Court tomorrow.
His defence lawyer Ivan Bertoia told the court that in a police interview his client "suggested he had the authority to behave in such a manner''.
Magistrate Terry Forbes said there was a strong case to be made for the case to be dealt with under the Mental Health Act.
THE RADIATION IN OUR HIGH STREETS
THE RADIATION IN OUR HIGH STREETS
Jun 14 2007
By Nicole Le Marie
MOBILE phone masts are spreading like a rash in Mole Valley. More and more people are using wireless technology, but how much radiation is all this new technology producing?
A few weeks ago Sir William Stewart, chairman of the Health Protection Agency, called for a review of the health risks of wireless technology. Although the Department of Health denies that mobile phone masts pose a risk, health fears surrounding the masts are debated time and again.
The Advertiser enlisted the help of Paul Collins and his electrosmog detector to try to ascertain the level of micro-wave radiation that Mole Valley residents are really being exposed to.
The electrosmog detector is a machine that detects the presence of microwave radiation and enables you to hear it as sound.
It reacts to all microwave sources, including cordless phones, wi-fi networks, blue-tooth, 2G, 3G and TETRA masts,and gives an audio indication to the presence of microwaves.
The stronger the field the louder the sound gets, at some points in Mole Valley the machine reached the loudest level possible, with Dorking High Street proving to be an electrosmog hot point.
Paul Collins, a married-father-of-two from Bookham, bought the machine because he believes he is ElectroSensitivie - which means he suffers symptoms such as stinging skin, tinnitus and palpitations when exposed to high levels of electrosmog.
Paul said: "It is not just about telephone masts, but wifi and mobiles add it all up and it's not a pretty picture. There are increasing concerns and scientific evidence that this radiation is causing serious health effects.
"Dorking High Street is particularly intense - from Pump Corner down to the Pippbrook offices the noise produced by the machine is as loud as a machine gun.
"You can guarantee if you went back a decade ago Dorking High Street would be completely quiet.
"The mast on the top of Dorking Post Office is firing beams to a point located somewhere else. Those beams spread out and can end up somewhere in your living room, combined with that there are all the mobiles people are using on the High Street and other technology.
"There are hot spots in Leatherhead, such as near the theatre, but not as loud as the noise the electrosmog produces in Dorking High Street, especially on the side of Sainsbury's and The White Horse Hotel.
We visited the Meadowbank children's playground, which again produced a very loud sound from the electrosmog detector.
Paul said: "Do you really want this where our children are playing? Young kids have underdeveloped immune systems and are particularly susceptible to damage.
"I have been to St Josephs and it is relatively quiet but Ashcombe School has a mast on the roof,and is very noisy in car park area where there is a nursery. "When you can't see or touch something people often find it hard to believe there is problem - look at how long it took people to believe that smoking is bad for you. But in a few years time when the results of all the studies come back, we will regret it."
But in defence a spokesman for Orange, which operates the mast on top of the Post Office, claimed: "The Orange base station in the High Street is a simple low powered radio transmitter, which is operating at around the power of a domestic light bulb."
Orange uses a licensed frequency within the electromagnetic spectrum to transmit and receive signals like any other radio powered device.
Even if this particular mast were removed, there would still be an RF reading of a similar strength as mobile phone masts are not the only source of emissions in the environments where we live and work.
In addition to this, the phone handsets themselves use the same technology, so people walking around using their mobile phones would also pick up a reading.
It is interesting to the industry that people are worried about masts but continue to use mobile phones and it seems there is a reluctance to accept that these are one and the same.
The mast in the High Street is actually operating at hundreds of times below the guidelines that have been set by the Government. It is a high performing site, so clearly there are a large number of Orange users here that use the services this mast provides.
Once you pass Pump Corner into South Street, Dorking, the electrosmog was relatively quiet as was West Street. Areas such as Box Hill are also giving quiet readings.
In the past five years Mole Valley District Council has decided on 110 applications for mobile phone masts or related items. Of these, 74 have been allowed.
Mole Valley District Council said it was concerned to learn of the Advertiser's findings.
A spokesman said: "The council has a statutory duty to consider any valid planning application that is submitted."
New masts or additional equipment on existing structures appear to be demand-led with the continuing growth in usage of mobile phones.
With regard to health issues, the Government advice states that health concerns can be a material consideration in determining applications but it is for the decision maker to determine what weight to attach to such considerations. However, it is the firm view of the Government that the planning system is not the place for determining health safeguards.
"An application is submitted with a certificate by the operator, which confirms that the emissions are within the guidelines and as a result this council cannot take the matter any further." ..SUPL:
Jun 14 2007
By Nicole Le Marie
MOBILE phone masts are spreading like a rash in Mole Valley. More and more people are using wireless technology, but how much radiation is all this new technology producing?
A few weeks ago Sir William Stewart, chairman of the Health Protection Agency, called for a review of the health risks of wireless technology. Although the Department of Health denies that mobile phone masts pose a risk, health fears surrounding the masts are debated time and again.
The Advertiser enlisted the help of Paul Collins and his electrosmog detector to try to ascertain the level of micro-wave radiation that Mole Valley residents are really being exposed to.
The electrosmog detector is a machine that detects the presence of microwave radiation and enables you to hear it as sound.
It reacts to all microwave sources, including cordless phones, wi-fi networks, blue-tooth, 2G, 3G and TETRA masts,and gives an audio indication to the presence of microwaves.
The stronger the field the louder the sound gets, at some points in Mole Valley the machine reached the loudest level possible, with Dorking High Street proving to be an electrosmog hot point.
Paul Collins, a married-father-of-two from Bookham, bought the machine because he believes he is ElectroSensitivie - which means he suffers symptoms such as stinging skin, tinnitus and palpitations when exposed to high levels of electrosmog.
Paul said: "It is not just about telephone masts, but wifi and mobiles add it all up and it's not a pretty picture. There are increasing concerns and scientific evidence that this radiation is causing serious health effects.
"Dorking High Street is particularly intense - from Pump Corner down to the Pippbrook offices the noise produced by the machine is as loud as a machine gun.
"You can guarantee if you went back a decade ago Dorking High Street would be completely quiet.
"The mast on the top of Dorking Post Office is firing beams to a point located somewhere else. Those beams spread out and can end up somewhere in your living room, combined with that there are all the mobiles people are using on the High Street and other technology.
"There are hot spots in Leatherhead, such as near the theatre, but not as loud as the noise the electrosmog produces in Dorking High Street, especially on the side of Sainsbury's and The White Horse Hotel.
We visited the Meadowbank children's playground, which again produced a very loud sound from the electrosmog detector.
Paul said: "Do you really want this where our children are playing? Young kids have underdeveloped immune systems and are particularly susceptible to damage.
"I have been to St Josephs and it is relatively quiet but Ashcombe School has a mast on the roof,and is very noisy in car park area where there is a nursery. "When you can't see or touch something people often find it hard to believe there is problem - look at how long it took people to believe that smoking is bad for you. But in a few years time when the results of all the studies come back, we will regret it."
But in defence a spokesman for Orange, which operates the mast on top of the Post Office, claimed: "The Orange base station in the High Street is a simple low powered radio transmitter, which is operating at around the power of a domestic light bulb."
Orange uses a licensed frequency within the electromagnetic spectrum to transmit and receive signals like any other radio powered device.
Even if this particular mast were removed, there would still be an RF reading of a similar strength as mobile phone masts are not the only source of emissions in the environments where we live and work.
In addition to this, the phone handsets themselves use the same technology, so people walking around using their mobile phones would also pick up a reading.
It is interesting to the industry that people are worried about masts but continue to use mobile phones and it seems there is a reluctance to accept that these are one and the same.
The mast in the High Street is actually operating at hundreds of times below the guidelines that have been set by the Government. It is a high performing site, so clearly there are a large number of Orange users here that use the services this mast provides.
Once you pass Pump Corner into South Street, Dorking, the electrosmog was relatively quiet as was West Street. Areas such as Box Hill are also giving quiet readings.
In the past five years Mole Valley District Council has decided on 110 applications for mobile phone masts or related items. Of these, 74 have been allowed.
Mole Valley District Council said it was concerned to learn of the Advertiser's findings.
A spokesman said: "The council has a statutory duty to consider any valid planning application that is submitted."
New masts or additional equipment on existing structures appear to be demand-led with the continuing growth in usage of mobile phones.
With regard to health issues, the Government advice states that health concerns can be a material consideration in determining applications but it is for the decision maker to determine what weight to attach to such considerations. However, it is the firm view of the Government that the planning system is not the place for determining health safeguards.
"An application is submitted with a certificate by the operator, which confirms that the emissions are within the guidelines and as a result this council cannot take the matter any further." ..SUPL:
Letter from Guinea-Pigs-"R"-Us to BlueCross Representative
Dear Mr. Fitzpatrick:
(Copied below my comments, is item 4 of your critique of Michael Moore's "SICKO.")
You are correct that Moore did not address "lifestyle choices." While the choices you mention are undoubtedly causing significant increases in overall healthcare costs, there is another very important issue Moore also chose to ignore. I felt what I am about to write was important enough to appeal to Moore several times -- the last time when he was asking for opinions re our healthcare system.
I am referring to the issue of providing "prudent avoidance recommendations" regarding low level, "close," chronic, prolonged EMF/EMR (electromagnetic fields/electromagnetic radiation) pollution emanating from electric meters, gas meters, electric appliances such as electric clocks, small fans, monitors, noise machines, air purifiers, aquarium pumps and heaters, touchlamps, lamps with dimmer switches, TV's, computers, transformers for cordless phones and electronic games, security alarms, cell phone chargers -- literally any such items that might be in close proximity to persons' beds. Bad wires and even waterpipes running over or under beds may be producing high currents. There may be high frequencies on electrical wiring throughout homes.
Would you consider the placement of an infant's crib against a bedroom wall on which an electric meter is mounted to the outside wall adjacent to the crib to be "a lifestyle choice?"
You, like most of the public, are victims of "governmental neglect" that actually comes closer to outright "fraudulent concealment" thereby rendering citizens "participants in experimentation without informed consent!"
While the act of placing a newborn infant (or any child or person) in a bed that is adjacent to an electric meter may seem innocent and lacking in reasons for concern, I have two grandsons who were diagnosed with rare immune deficiencies. Their cribs/beds were unknowingly placed in harms way -- against the "powerwall" -- because our government, the electric utilities and also the various cancer societies were not announcing "prudent avoidance measures re low level EMF/EMR."
The immunologist asked whether children had died in our family. We were told the boys (cousins living in different cities) may develop Leukemia or Lymphoma or other cancers. We were also told their rare immune deficiency(ies) -- low IgG subclasses 1 and 3 would not be expected to occur in infants or toddlers -- that this was "an adult pattern" (the boys' cells were "aging") -- that there is/was no name for their problem -- only the description "hypogammaglobulinemia" which means "low immune......"
The immunologist said "this must be genetic." Blood tests were run and he then said, "this has to be environmental...." I asked about the two high voltage powerlines only 50 ft. from the front of our house (we had been providing daycare for the boys). The doctor responded, "well, we know that EMF's affect immune function in mice but we don't know how much of what happens to mice happens to people...."
This was all occuring during the $46 mil EMF RAPID Study. The boys' blood was sent to Dr. Fatih Uckun while he was still at the University of Minnesota. We were not told he was one of the scientists participating in the EMF RAPID Study. After Uckun left the University of Minnesota, the National Institute of Health helped him open the Wayne Hughes Institute. (See Uckun's comments re EMF's at: http://www.feb.se/EMF-L/EMFL-3-98.html )
To this day, the EMF RAPID Interagency Committee Report has never been presented to Congress. I have made several requests of politicians to testify before Congress. EMF's were designated as Class 2B carcinogens. While funds were slotted for "notifying the public," this has not occurred.
Tragically, a teacher, Michael Boyum, unknowingly had a small fan and electric clock on the headboard of his waterbed. Michael focused on "good health" -- he held a black belt in karate. Michael died at the age of 23 from Acute Myelogenous Leukemia. Ironically, Dr. Fatih Uckun is the doctor who attempted "last ditch, extraordinary measures" to save Michael while he was a patient at the Parker-Hughes Cancer Center.
The costs of just the above three families as result of possibly "preventable health problems," were staggering and not only included considerable payments by insurers but also jeopardized family life (in many ways) for those affected, far into the future.
My husband, Bud, has now improved in three parts of his Executive Function. He is said not to have Alzheimers after all but continues to suffer "moderate" to "severe" memory loss and cognitive impairment. I moved Bud's electric clock radio off his nightstand and started him on a regime of nightly melatonin (as well as a number of other supplements). I also discontinued his statin -- Lipitor. Evidence is mounting that many drugs may be causing severe adverse reactions particularly when individuals are sleeping close to electrical or telephone equipment. Insurers have been and continue to cover a multitude of symptoms related to this type of adverse interaction/reaction.
Since you, Mr. Fitzpatrick, are involved in "communications," why don't you take the lead in regard to informing "Blue members," together with affiliated unions, large corporations, etc., that there is a critical need to move electric and telephone equipment away from persons' beds?
I will be glad to send you a copy of the 1993 "USA Today" afticle that I received from the American Cancer Society recommending electric items be moved away from close proximity to beds. Also, I can send you a copy of a booklet re EMF' that was prepared by utilities' communications' experts with the same recommendations. That booklet was distributed by Florida Power & Light and possibly also Sacramento Power & Light before printing was stopped in 2001.
The above-mentioned health problems in my family are only part of our family's costs of our not being informed re simple, basically cost-free "prudent avoidance measures...." The people need your help, Mr. Fredrickson, to make "important lifestyle choices."
I look forward to hearing good things in regard to your help toward improving our healthcare system!!!
Best wishes and take care - Joanne
Joanne C. Mueller
Guinea Pigs "R" Us
731 - 123rd Avenue N.W.
Minneapolis, Minnesota 55448-2127 USA
Phone: 763-755-6114
Email: jcmpelican@aol.com (7-10-07)
"The things that will destroy us are: politics without principle; pleasure without conscience; wealth without work; knowledge without character; business without morality; science without humanity....... --Mahatma Gandhi
http://omega.twoday.net/stories/282050/
ARE YOU AND YOUR CHILDREN GUINEA PIGS? Letter 7-22-04 by Joanne Mueller
* *
Mr. Fitzpatrick's comments (re Michael Moore's "SICKO"):
4. Perhaps most damaging of all, Moore completely fails to address the most significant driver of health care costs - our own lifestyle choices - and seeks to focus attention and efforts on the alluring 'quick-fix' of universal health care.........
Contrast this to the recent Health Care Symposium held in Harrisburg - where a panel of representatives from Government, Insurance, Hospitals, Business, Physicians, and even Lawyers agreed on one thing - that there was no quick fix and that Health and Wellness was the critical area of focus.
--------
SICKO: Fascinating inside look at Blue Cross's pondering what to do about Moore's expose
http://www.buergerwelle.de/pdf/inside_look_at_bluecross_pondering.htm
(Copied below my comments, is item 4 of your critique of Michael Moore's "SICKO.")
You are correct that Moore did not address "lifestyle choices." While the choices you mention are undoubtedly causing significant increases in overall healthcare costs, there is another very important issue Moore also chose to ignore. I felt what I am about to write was important enough to appeal to Moore several times -- the last time when he was asking for opinions re our healthcare system.
I am referring to the issue of providing "prudent avoidance recommendations" regarding low level, "close," chronic, prolonged EMF/EMR (electromagnetic fields/electromagnetic radiation) pollution emanating from electric meters, gas meters, electric appliances such as electric clocks, small fans, monitors, noise machines, air purifiers, aquarium pumps and heaters, touchlamps, lamps with dimmer switches, TV's, computers, transformers for cordless phones and electronic games, security alarms, cell phone chargers -- literally any such items that might be in close proximity to persons' beds. Bad wires and even waterpipes running over or under beds may be producing high currents. There may be high frequencies on electrical wiring throughout homes.
Would you consider the placement of an infant's crib against a bedroom wall on which an electric meter is mounted to the outside wall adjacent to the crib to be "a lifestyle choice?"
You, like most of the public, are victims of "governmental neglect" that actually comes closer to outright "fraudulent concealment" thereby rendering citizens "participants in experimentation without informed consent!"
While the act of placing a newborn infant (or any child or person) in a bed that is adjacent to an electric meter may seem innocent and lacking in reasons for concern, I have two grandsons who were diagnosed with rare immune deficiencies. Their cribs/beds were unknowingly placed in harms way -- against the "powerwall" -- because our government, the electric utilities and also the various cancer societies were not announcing "prudent avoidance measures re low level EMF/EMR."
The immunologist asked whether children had died in our family. We were told the boys (cousins living in different cities) may develop Leukemia or Lymphoma or other cancers. We were also told their rare immune deficiency(ies) -- low IgG subclasses 1 and 3 would not be expected to occur in infants or toddlers -- that this was "an adult pattern" (the boys' cells were "aging") -- that there is/was no name for their problem -- only the description "hypogammaglobulinemia" which means "low immune......"
The immunologist said "this must be genetic." Blood tests were run and he then said, "this has to be environmental...." I asked about the two high voltage powerlines only 50 ft. from the front of our house (we had been providing daycare for the boys). The doctor responded, "well, we know that EMF's affect immune function in mice but we don't know how much of what happens to mice happens to people...."
This was all occuring during the $46 mil EMF RAPID Study. The boys' blood was sent to Dr. Fatih Uckun while he was still at the University of Minnesota. We were not told he was one of the scientists participating in the EMF RAPID Study. After Uckun left the University of Minnesota, the National Institute of Health helped him open the Wayne Hughes Institute. (See Uckun's comments re EMF's at: http://www.feb.se/EMF-L/EMFL-3-98.html )
To this day, the EMF RAPID Interagency Committee Report has never been presented to Congress. I have made several requests of politicians to testify before Congress. EMF's were designated as Class 2B carcinogens. While funds were slotted for "notifying the public," this has not occurred.
Tragically, a teacher, Michael Boyum, unknowingly had a small fan and electric clock on the headboard of his waterbed. Michael focused on "good health" -- he held a black belt in karate. Michael died at the age of 23 from Acute Myelogenous Leukemia. Ironically, Dr. Fatih Uckun is the doctor who attempted "last ditch, extraordinary measures" to save Michael while he was a patient at the Parker-Hughes Cancer Center.
The costs of just the above three families as result of possibly "preventable health problems," were staggering and not only included considerable payments by insurers but also jeopardized family life (in many ways) for those affected, far into the future.
My husband, Bud, has now improved in three parts of his Executive Function. He is said not to have Alzheimers after all but continues to suffer "moderate" to "severe" memory loss and cognitive impairment. I moved Bud's electric clock radio off his nightstand and started him on a regime of nightly melatonin (as well as a number of other supplements). I also discontinued his statin -- Lipitor. Evidence is mounting that many drugs may be causing severe adverse reactions particularly when individuals are sleeping close to electrical or telephone equipment. Insurers have been and continue to cover a multitude of symptoms related to this type of adverse interaction/reaction.
Since you, Mr. Fitzpatrick, are involved in "communications," why don't you take the lead in regard to informing "Blue members," together with affiliated unions, large corporations, etc., that there is a critical need to move electric and telephone equipment away from persons' beds?
I will be glad to send you a copy of the 1993 "USA Today" afticle that I received from the American Cancer Society recommending electric items be moved away from close proximity to beds. Also, I can send you a copy of a booklet re EMF' that was prepared by utilities' communications' experts with the same recommendations. That booklet was distributed by Florida Power & Light and possibly also Sacramento Power & Light before printing was stopped in 2001.
The above-mentioned health problems in my family are only part of our family's costs of our not being informed re simple, basically cost-free "prudent avoidance measures...." The people need your help, Mr. Fredrickson, to make "important lifestyle choices."
I look forward to hearing good things in regard to your help toward improving our healthcare system!!!
Best wishes and take care - Joanne
Joanne C. Mueller
Guinea Pigs "R" Us
731 - 123rd Avenue N.W.
Minneapolis, Minnesota 55448-2127 USA
Phone: 763-755-6114
Email: jcmpelican@aol.com (7-10-07)
"The things that will destroy us are: politics without principle; pleasure without conscience; wealth without work; knowledge without character; business without morality; science without humanity....... --Mahatma Gandhi
http://omega.twoday.net/stories/282050/
ARE YOU AND YOUR CHILDREN GUINEA PIGS? Letter 7-22-04 by Joanne Mueller
* *
Mr. Fitzpatrick's comments (re Michael Moore's "SICKO"):
4. Perhaps most damaging of all, Moore completely fails to address the most significant driver of health care costs - our own lifestyle choices - and seeks to focus attention and efforts on the alluring 'quick-fix' of universal health care.........
Contrast this to the recent Health Care Symposium held in Harrisburg - where a panel of representatives from Government, Insurance, Hospitals, Business, Physicians, and even Lawyers agreed on one thing - that there was no quick fix and that Health and Wellness was the critical area of focus.
--------
SICKO: Fascinating inside look at Blue Cross's pondering what to do about Moore's expose
http://www.buergerwelle.de/pdf/inside_look_at_bluecross_pondering.htm
Surge in Autism - One in Fifty-Eight - Raises New Fears
New health fears over big surge in autism
· Experts 'concerned' by dramatic rise
· Questions over triple jab for children
Denis Campbell, health correspondent
Sunday July 8, 2007
The Observer
The number of children in Britain with autism is far higher than previously thought, according to dramatic new evidence by the country's leading experts in the field.
A study, as yet unpublished, shows that as many as one in 58 children may have some form of the condition, a lifelong disability that leads to many sufferers becoming isolated because they have trouble making friends and often display obsessional behaviour.
Seven academics at Cambridge University, six of them from its renowned Autism Research Centre, undertook the research by studying children at local primary schools. Two of the academics, leaders in their field, privately believe that the surprisingly high figure may be linked to the use of the controversial MMR vaccine. That view is rejected by the rest of the team, including its leader, the renowned autism expert, Professor Simon Baron-Cohen.
The team found that one in 58 children has either autism or a related autistic spectrum disorder. Nationwide, that could be as many as 210,000 children under 16. The research is significant because that figure is well above the existing estimate of one in 100, which specialist bodies such as the National Autistic Society have until now accepted as correct. It is also significantly more than the previous highest estimate of one in 86, which was reported in research published last year in the Lancet.
Some experts who previously explained the rise in autism as the result of better diagnosis and a broader definition of the condition now believe the upward trend revealed by studies such as this indicates that there has been a real rise in the numbers of children who are affected by it. Although the new research is purely statistical and does not examine possible explanations for the rise, two of the authors believe that the MMR jab, which babies receive at 12 to 15 months, might be partly to blame. Dr Fiona Scott and Dr Carol Stott both say it could be a factor in small numbers of children.
Professor Baron-Cohen, director of the centre and the country's foremost authority on the condition, said he did not believe there was any link between the three-in-one vaccination and autism. Genetics, better recognition of the condition, environmental factors such as chemicals and children's exposure to hormones in the womb, especially testosterone, were more likely to be the cause, he commented. 'As for MMR, at this point one can conclude that evidence does not support the idea that the MMR causes autism.'
Baron-Cohen and his team studied the incidence of autism and autistic spectrum disorders among some 12,000 children at primary school in Cambridgeshire between 2001 and 2004. He was so concerned by the one in 58 figure that last year he proposed informing public health officials in the county.
Controversy over the MMR jab erupted in 1998 after Dr Andrew Wakefield, a gastroenterologist at the Royal Free Hospital in north London, said he no longer believed it was safe and might cause autism and inflammatory bowel disease in children. Many parents panicked and MMR take-up fell dramatically. More families opted to have their child immunised privately through three separate injections to avoid the possibility of their immune system being overloaded by the MMR jab, thus leaving them at greater risk of infections.
The medical and scientific establishment denied Wakefield's claim, described research he had co-authored as 'bad science', and sought to reassure the public, with limited success. Wakefield and two former Royal Free colleagues are due to appear before the General Medical Council next week to answer charges relating to the 1998 research. The trio could be struck off.
The doctors' disciplinary body claims that Wakefield acted 'dishonestly and 'irresponsibly' in dealings with the Lancet, was 'misleading' in the way he sought research funding from the Legal Aid Board, and 'acted unethically and abused his position of trust as a medical practitioner' by taking blood from children after offering them money.
A book to be published this month by Dr Richard Halvorsen, a London GP who provides single vaccines privately to babies of parents concerned about MMR, will fuel the controversy. It will present new evidence of children allegedly being damaged by vaccinations and linking increased autism to MMR.
But Dr David Salisbury, national director for vaccines and immunisation at the Department of Health, said last night: 'The evidence is absolutely clear. No published study has ever shown a link between autism and the MMR vaccine. It is absolute nonsense to suggest otherwise.'
· Experts 'concerned' by dramatic rise
· Questions over triple jab for children
Denis Campbell, health correspondent
Sunday July 8, 2007
The Observer
The number of children in Britain with autism is far higher than previously thought, according to dramatic new evidence by the country's leading experts in the field.
A study, as yet unpublished, shows that as many as one in 58 children may have some form of the condition, a lifelong disability that leads to many sufferers becoming isolated because they have trouble making friends and often display obsessional behaviour.
Seven academics at Cambridge University, six of them from its renowned Autism Research Centre, undertook the research by studying children at local primary schools. Two of the academics, leaders in their field, privately believe that the surprisingly high figure may be linked to the use of the controversial MMR vaccine. That view is rejected by the rest of the team, including its leader, the renowned autism expert, Professor Simon Baron-Cohen.
The team found that one in 58 children has either autism or a related autistic spectrum disorder. Nationwide, that could be as many as 210,000 children under 16. The research is significant because that figure is well above the existing estimate of one in 100, which specialist bodies such as the National Autistic Society have until now accepted as correct. It is also significantly more than the previous highest estimate of one in 86, which was reported in research published last year in the Lancet.
Some experts who previously explained the rise in autism as the result of better diagnosis and a broader definition of the condition now believe the upward trend revealed by studies such as this indicates that there has been a real rise in the numbers of children who are affected by it. Although the new research is purely statistical and does not examine possible explanations for the rise, two of the authors believe that the MMR jab, which babies receive at 12 to 15 months, might be partly to blame. Dr Fiona Scott and Dr Carol Stott both say it could be a factor in small numbers of children.
Professor Baron-Cohen, director of the centre and the country's foremost authority on the condition, said he did not believe there was any link between the three-in-one vaccination and autism. Genetics, better recognition of the condition, environmental factors such as chemicals and children's exposure to hormones in the womb, especially testosterone, were more likely to be the cause, he commented. 'As for MMR, at this point one can conclude that evidence does not support the idea that the MMR causes autism.'
Baron-Cohen and his team studied the incidence of autism and autistic spectrum disorders among some 12,000 children at primary school in Cambridgeshire between 2001 and 2004. He was so concerned by the one in 58 figure that last year he proposed informing public health officials in the county.
Controversy over the MMR jab erupted in 1998 after Dr Andrew Wakefield, a gastroenterologist at the Royal Free Hospital in north London, said he no longer believed it was safe and might cause autism and inflammatory bowel disease in children. Many parents panicked and MMR take-up fell dramatically. More families opted to have their child immunised privately through three separate injections to avoid the possibility of their immune system being overloaded by the MMR jab, thus leaving them at greater risk of infections.
The medical and scientific establishment denied Wakefield's claim, described research he had co-authored as 'bad science', and sought to reassure the public, with limited success. Wakefield and two former Royal Free colleagues are due to appear before the General Medical Council next week to answer charges relating to the 1998 research. The trio could be struck off.
The doctors' disciplinary body claims that Wakefield acted 'dishonestly and 'irresponsibly' in dealings with the Lancet, was 'misleading' in the way he sought research funding from the Legal Aid Board, and 'acted unethically and abused his position of trust as a medical practitioner' by taking blood from children after offering them money.
A book to be published this month by Dr Richard Halvorsen, a London GP who provides single vaccines privately to babies of parents concerned about MMR, will fuel the controversy. It will present new evidence of children allegedly being damaged by vaccinations and linking increased autism to MMR.
But Dr David Salisbury, national director for vaccines and immunisation at the Department of Health, said last night: 'The evidence is absolutely clear. No published study has ever shown a link between autism and the MMR vaccine. It is absolute nonsense to suggest otherwise.'
Friday, July 13, 2007
Army tank destroys 6 mobile phone towers in Sydney
POLICE QUESTION RAMPAGING TANK DRIVER
July 14, 2007 09:05:00
Police are continuing to question a man who allegedly used a restored army tank to go on a rampage through Sydney's western suburbs overnight.
Police say the tank was used to destroy six mobile phone towers in a number of suburbs, including Mt Druitt, Emerton and Plumpton.
An electricity sub-station at Minchinbury was also destroyed.
Police Chief Inspector Guy Haberley says the driver was finally stopped when his tank stalled as he was driving towards another mobile phone tower.
"[It was] certainly unusual, however the best thing was that no public were significantly put into any danger," he said.
"The incident occurred between 2:00am and 3:35am, there was limited traffic on the roads and police patrolled it well and managed to avoid any damage to any public or to police."
http://www.emfacts.com/weblog/index.php?p=763
MAN TO APPEAR IN COURT OVER TANK RAMPAGE
http://abc.net.au/news/stories/2007/07/14/1978620.htm
Police say the man lead them on a long, but slow chase through a number of Sydney suburbs. (ABC)
A 45-year-old man will appear in court today charged with destroying a number of mobile phone towers in Sydney's west overnight using a restored army tank.
The man has been charged with numerous offences including breaking and entering, stealing, six counts of malicious damage, drug possession, using a weapon and driving in a dangerous manner.
He is due to appear in court later today.
Police say they first spotted the man about 2:00am AEST as he was using the tank to damage an electricity substation at Minchinbury.
Police Chief Inspector Guy Haberley says the man then led officers on a long, but slow, chase through a number of suburbs in Sydney's west.
"Mount Druitt highway patrol followed the vehicle at an approximate speed of 30 kilometres an hour at all times," he said.
During the 90-minute chase police allege the man destroyed a number of mobile phone towers and relay sheds.
Mobile phone coverage in the city's west has been affected as a result.
TEMPORARY PHONE TOWERS MAY BE NEEDED AFTER TANK RAMPAGE
http://abc.net.au/news/stories/2007/07/14/1978604.htm
Telstra says it may have to install temporary mobile phone towers in Sydney's west to replace ones which were damaged overnight when a man went on a rampage in a restored army tank.
The man led police on a 90-minute chase through a number of suburbs.
Police are alleging that the 45-year-old destroyed six phone towers and damaged an electricity sub-station.
He is still being questioned.
Telstra spokesman Jeremy Mitchell says repair crews have not yet been given access to the phone towers.
"Our crews are now on the ground, we're just waiting for the police to finalise the investigations on the actual site, then we'll be able to ascertain exactly the full extent of the damage," he said.
"There will be some coverage problems in those areas but our team will be ensuring that if there is a total loss of a tower that we'll have a mobile tower erected."
TANK RAMPAGE CASE ON HOLD UNTIL MONDAY
http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2007/07/14/1978671.htm?site=sydney
Posted July 14, 2007 16:40:00
Updated July 14, 2007 16:44:00
Police say six mobile phone towers and an electricity substation were destroyed during the chase. (ABC)
A Sydney man has been refused bail on charges of using a restored army tank to destroy an number of mobile phone towers in the city's west.
Dharruk man John Robert Patterson, 45, has appeared in Parramatta Bail court on a range of charges including malicious damage.
It is alleged that early this morning he used an armoured personnel carrier to destroy six mobile phone towers and an electricity substation in Sydney's west during a 90-minute chase by police.
In court today he did not apply for bail and it was formally refused.
The court was told that in an interview with police he said he had "authority to behave in the manner that he did".
The magistrate recommended that he receive psychiatric treatment and the case was adjourned until Monday.
The Effect of Cell Phone Radiation on the Red Blood Cell
The Effect of Cell Phone Radiation on the Red Blood Cell
A Change in the Blood as Seen Under a Dark Field Microscope: The Effects of Mobile Phone Radiation After Just a Ninety-second Cellular-Phone Call Study Conditions Length of Phone Call: Ninety seconds Mobile Phone Make: Nokia 5110 (900 MHz) Signal Strength: 70-100 uW/cm2 (The maximum limit in Germany for cell phone signal strength is 470 uW/cm2).
Effects seen under a dark-field microscope of blood taken from an ear capillary.
Subject A: Person speaking on mobile phone. In spite of the fact that the strength of the call was below the legal limit by 25%, the results of the study show a major effect on the bodily systems.
Photo 1: Before the phone call. The red blood cells due to their electrical charge and polarity are floating in the blood seperated from the other red blood cells.
Photo 2: After the phone call. The cells have lost their polarity and integrity and are clumping together. This results in hypoxia or a lack of oxygen reaching the cells in the body's organs. Due to numerous cells clumping together a cell's surface area is diminished and this results in the inability of the red blood cell to take in sufficient oxygen. Since the brain consumes 20% of the oxygen carried by red blood cells, the possible effects of this are a diminished ability to remember new things.
Photo 3: Twenty minutes after the phone call.
Photo 4: Forty minutes after the phone call.
After the phone call the blood is attempting to regain its original form but even twenty minutes later the cells still haven't returned to their natural state. Finally, forty minutes later we see a return to the orignal form.
The People Around the Mobile Phone User are Also Affected.
Subject B: A person 1.7 meters away from the person using the mobile phone. We are seeing a loss of polarity in the blood cell. Even after twenty minutes the blood still hasn't recovered to its normal state.
Photo 5: Blood taken during the mobile phone call from a bystander nearby the mobile phone user.
Photo 6: Blood taken twenty minutes after the phone call.
Mobile phone radiation is shown to affect those people nearby the caller. Children's developing nervous systems - having not reached full maturation - are especially sensitive to the effects of mobile phone microwave radiation. Due to this fact, the British government has made it a legal requirement to include a warning in the instruction packet of mobile telephones.
A Change in the Blood as Seen Under a Dark Field Microscope: The Effects of Mobile Phone Radiation After Just a Ninety-second Cellular-Phone Call Study Conditions Length of Phone Call: Ninety seconds Mobile Phone Make: Nokia 5110 (900 MHz) Signal Strength: 70-100 uW/cm2 (The maximum limit in Germany for cell phone signal strength is 470 uW/cm2).
Effects seen under a dark-field microscope of blood taken from an ear capillary.
Subject A: Person speaking on mobile phone. In spite of the fact that the strength of the call was below the legal limit by 25%, the results of the study show a major effect on the bodily systems.
Photo 1: Before the phone call. The red blood cells due to their electrical charge and polarity are floating in the blood seperated from the other red blood cells.
Photo 2: After the phone call. The cells have lost their polarity and integrity and are clumping together. This results in hypoxia or a lack of oxygen reaching the cells in the body's organs. Due to numerous cells clumping together a cell's surface area is diminished and this results in the inability of the red blood cell to take in sufficient oxygen. Since the brain consumes 20% of the oxygen carried by red blood cells, the possible effects of this are a diminished ability to remember new things.
Photo 3: Twenty minutes after the phone call.
Photo 4: Forty minutes after the phone call.
After the phone call the blood is attempting to regain its original form but even twenty minutes later the cells still haven't returned to their natural state. Finally, forty minutes later we see a return to the orignal form.
The People Around the Mobile Phone User are Also Affected.
Subject B: A person 1.7 meters away from the person using the mobile phone. We are seeing a loss of polarity in the blood cell. Even after twenty minutes the blood still hasn't recovered to its normal state.
Photo 5: Blood taken during the mobile phone call from a bystander nearby the mobile phone user.
Photo 6: Blood taken twenty minutes after the phone call.
Mobile phone radiation is shown to affect those people nearby the caller. Children's developing nervous systems - having not reached full maturation - are especially sensitive to the effects of mobile phone microwave radiation. Due to this fact, the British government has made it a legal requirement to include a warning in the instruction packet of mobile telephones.
Thursday, July 12, 2007
Feminism, Autonomic Imbalance, and Chronic Fatigue Syndrome
Feminism, Autonomic Imbalance, and Chronic Fatigue Syndrome
By Jens Wilkinson
"Women with apparently unexplained disorders are unfortunate individuals of the same gender, lumped together because medical theory and practice do not understand the mechanisms of their suffering." -Kirsti Malterud, MD, PhD (Fam Med 2000;32(9):603-11.)
Throughout history, women seem to have been inordinately stricken by what are called "mystery illnesses," or sometimes "phantom illnesses." There is a medical dimension to this problem, of course, but there are also deep social implications. We can gain some insight into these implications by examining two related "phantom illnesses" -- autonomic imbalance, and chronic fatigue syndrome.
Chronic fatigue syndrome, more popularly known as CFS, is a condition that is still only poorly understood.
However, it has become a major social problem in the United States. I first began thinking about the connection between it and feminism because where I live, in Japan, we don�t have chronic fatigue syndrome. Or to put it more precisely, we don�t have the diagnosis. Needless to say, there are tons of people with the wide-ranging symptoms of CFS � such as fatigue, dizziness, palpitations, tremors, insomnia, chronic diarrhea, muscle pain, etc. In fact, chronic fatigue itself may be more common here. One Japanese researcher, quoted in an article published in the New York Times, said that perhaps one third of the workforce here suffers from long-term fatigue.
The only thing that is different is the fact that these patients are not given the diagnosis of CFS. Instead, they are said to have an "autonomic imbalance" -- or in Japanese, "jiritsu shinkei shitchosho."
What, then, do I mean by linking feminism to autonomic imbalance, and CFS? It�s not that feminists get them, though they are overwhelmingly diseases of women (it is generally said that 90% of patients are female). What I mean to explore is the possibility that the diagnosis itself is in a sense deeply related to the discourse of feminism.
The Mystery of CFS
One thing to understand from the beginning is that, at least at the present, CFS is always a "diagnosis of exclusion." What this means is that it is given to patients who have certain symptoms, such as chronic fatigue, for whom the doctor cannot find an obvious cause.
The criteria used by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control is that a patient must fulfill two criteria.
"1. Have severe chronic fatigue of six months or longer duration with other known medical conditions excluded by clinical diagnosis, and;
2. Concurrently have four or more of the following symptoms: substantial impairment in short-term memory or concentration, sore throat, tender lymph nodes, muscle pain, multi-joint pain without swelling or redness, headaches of a new type, pattern or severity, unrefreshing sleep, and post-exertional malaise lasting more than 24 hours."
The reason for this somewhat perplexing diagnosis is that there is no test for CFS. In fact, nobody really understands the cause, hence nobody knows how to make a test to determine if a person has it or not. There are, yes, diagnostic tests that can be used, but they are tests of symptoms rather than determinants of some fundamental abnormality that is specific to the illness.
This quote from The Economist, from 1999, illustrates something of the nature of the disease. "A mysterious epidemic spread through the Los Angeles County Hospital, in California, in 1934. Nurses and doctors succumbed to a strange mix of fatigue, muscle pain and emotional distress. The first suspect was polio � the symptoms were similar, and fear of the disease was rampant at the time. Yet tests for polio revealed nothing and, bizarrely, the hospital�s patients remained unaffected. A similar pattern of events occurred in 1955, at the Royal Free Hospital in London. Again, patients were untouched. And in both cases, most of those who succumbed were women."
Returning to the theme, then, the truth is that nobody really knows if CFS is really a new syndrome. In fact, women have apparently always been affected by similar ailments, but in the past they were not taken seriously. The problem was once known generally as "hysteria." Freud used the term neurosis, and other terms have been used in the intervening century include "neurasthenia" (meaning nervous weakness, essentially). In general, the (mostly) women who suffered from such disorders were given psychiatric diagnoses, and the treatments � principally, rest -- were consistent with these diagnoses.
Nobody really understands why these diseases are so much more prevalent among women than men. One theory, that seems most popular in Japan, is that women are under greater social stress, and hence become ill more frequently than men. This is in a sense a continuation of the hysteria idea, except that instead of saying the patient is susceptible to stress, it shifts the blame to society. However, it is still essentially a continuation of the idea that "It�s all in your head."
Another idea, that holds some weight, is that the prevalence may actually be fairly equal, but that men tend to "self-medicate" with alcohol, instead of visiting the doctor. In this case, there might be a difference not in the disease but in the recognition of it.
Finally, there is a hypothesis that there is some biological difference that leads to the bias in prevalence. Proponents of this idea can point to the fact that there is a certain class of diseases, which are well defined and have a known cause that are more prevalent among women. They are called auto-immune disorders, and include lupus as well as rheumatoid arthritis and Crohn�s disease. One theory is that these ailments may be more common among women because women carry babies, and hence must keep within their bodies an entity that is essentially foreign.
Japan and Autonomic Imbalance
The idea that CFS is a problem of stress leads in to the issue of Japan. Here, the diagnosis of CFS is hardly ever given at all. It is included in the home medical guide that I have at home, but only as a small footnote, not as an entry. There is a group at Osaka Medical University doing research and clinical practice, but primary physicians are usually not aware of the diagnosis, except perhaps as "something they have in the U.S."
So patients are not given the diagnosis of CFS in Japan. Which does not mean, however, that there are no patients with the symptoms. In fact, Dr. Iida Toshiho from Saku Central Hospital in Nagano Prefecture was quoted by the New York Times as saying that 70% of his patients suffered from chronic fatigue. There is another diagnosis, however, that is used in its place. The symptoms are pretty much identical. Imagine for a second, though, being told that you were ill with an "autonomic imbalance." You might be concerned, wondering if you were about to lose your balance and fall over . . . Actually, in Japan, people who go to their doctor and complain that they are ill, but without any clear problem, are often diagnosed with this syndrome, known as jiritsu shinkei shichosho. There are also many "self-help" books available on the subject, and they are out on the shelves in bookstores, right along tomes on more "conventional" illnesses such as cancer, diabetes or high blood pressure. An exact translation of the Japanese name would be "autonomous nerve dysfunction," but despite the serious-sounding name, autonomic imbalance is not generally a major problem. The books make it clear that it is a problem caused by "stress," and surprise, surprise, the treatment is mainly tranquilizers and rest. Sound familiar?
Feminism and CFS
So this is where CFS comes into the picture. I don�t believe it is a pure coincidence that the diagnosis was developed during the 1980s, when the effects of feminism and other ideas involving human rights � such as patients� rights -- were being felt. The predominantly women patients began to lose patience at being told, "It�s all in your head." And it is no doubt partially as a response to this that the diagnosis of CFS came about. Interestingly, although the diagnosis has changed, very little is understood about the condition, hence the treatment is basically the same as it once was � tranquilizers, anti-depressants, painkillers, and rest.
Incidentally, I personally believe that there is more to CFS than a simple psychiatric issue, of the "stress of being a housewife" or the "stress of living in modern society." Just because we don�t understand the etiology of an illness does not automatically means that it is "all in the patient�s head." What is different between the US and Japan is that there is really no movement at all to find an organic cause for autonomic imbalance. The debate is dominated by health professionals, and there are no movements by women or other patients demanding changes in its treatment or social context.
Against Psychosomatic Illness
The idea of psychosomatic illness is that the physical symptoms of a patient are brought about by the mind. In other words, the patient does not really have any physical problem, but experiences problems due to stress or psychological problems.
As a patient there are obvious reasons to dislike this characterization. The patient feels poorly, yet those around the patient take his or problems lightly. At times they offer "encouragement" in the form of things like "Snap out of it."
However, this kind of stigmatization is not really a good reason to criticize the diagnosis. After all, if the notion is true, then there is little value in denying the truth just to remove these sorts of attitudes. It wouldn�t change anything.
The problem, rather, is the possibility that it is not true. It is certain, yes, that patients with such "psychosomatic" disorders do not usually show any clear medical problems that could explain the symptoms. However, this only means that with the technology in use today, we cannot discover any serious problem.
And this is where the trouble starts. There would be some clear biomedical issue that really exists, and that could be corrected medically by some as yet unknown technique.
However, as long as the label of "psychosomatic" illness is maintained, little serious research goes into the pathology of such syndromes. There are a number of researchers who have dedicated themselves to changing this, but they are generally outsiders, without access to grant resources, and at times can be, to put it generously, a bit eccentric in their medical ideas.
Interestingly, to return to the theme of feminism for a moment, some women in the West argue that it is precisely because the disease is seen as a women�s problem that it remains mysterious. They point to the enormous gap in resources spent on AIDS, which is still generally a disease of men, compared to CFS. CFS may have been called by different names, but perhaps reflecting its nature as a "women�s ailment, " all seem to emphasize the emotional aspects.
It seems to me that a good way out would come from a frank recognition that there is a lot we do not understand. Rather than saying "It�s just imaginary," we should frankly admit that there might be something there after all.
By Jens Wilkinson
"Women with apparently unexplained disorders are unfortunate individuals of the same gender, lumped together because medical theory and practice do not understand the mechanisms of their suffering." -Kirsti Malterud, MD, PhD (Fam Med 2000;32(9):603-11.)
Throughout history, women seem to have been inordinately stricken by what are called "mystery illnesses," or sometimes "phantom illnesses." There is a medical dimension to this problem, of course, but there are also deep social implications. We can gain some insight into these implications by examining two related "phantom illnesses" -- autonomic imbalance, and chronic fatigue syndrome.
Chronic fatigue syndrome, more popularly known as CFS, is a condition that is still only poorly understood.
However, it has become a major social problem in the United States. I first began thinking about the connection between it and feminism because where I live, in Japan, we don�t have chronic fatigue syndrome. Or to put it more precisely, we don�t have the diagnosis. Needless to say, there are tons of people with the wide-ranging symptoms of CFS � such as fatigue, dizziness, palpitations, tremors, insomnia, chronic diarrhea, muscle pain, etc. In fact, chronic fatigue itself may be more common here. One Japanese researcher, quoted in an article published in the New York Times, said that perhaps one third of the workforce here suffers from long-term fatigue.
The only thing that is different is the fact that these patients are not given the diagnosis of CFS. Instead, they are said to have an "autonomic imbalance" -- or in Japanese, "jiritsu shinkei shitchosho."
What, then, do I mean by linking feminism to autonomic imbalance, and CFS? It�s not that feminists get them, though they are overwhelmingly diseases of women (it is generally said that 90% of patients are female). What I mean to explore is the possibility that the diagnosis itself is in a sense deeply related to the discourse of feminism.
The Mystery of CFS
One thing to understand from the beginning is that, at least at the present, CFS is always a "diagnosis of exclusion." What this means is that it is given to patients who have certain symptoms, such as chronic fatigue, for whom the doctor cannot find an obvious cause.
The criteria used by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control is that a patient must fulfill two criteria.
"1. Have severe chronic fatigue of six months or longer duration with other known medical conditions excluded by clinical diagnosis, and;
2. Concurrently have four or more of the following symptoms: substantial impairment in short-term memory or concentration, sore throat, tender lymph nodes, muscle pain, multi-joint pain without swelling or redness, headaches of a new type, pattern or severity, unrefreshing sleep, and post-exertional malaise lasting more than 24 hours."
The reason for this somewhat perplexing diagnosis is that there is no test for CFS. In fact, nobody really understands the cause, hence nobody knows how to make a test to determine if a person has it or not. There are, yes, diagnostic tests that can be used, but they are tests of symptoms rather than determinants of some fundamental abnormality that is specific to the illness.
This quote from The Economist, from 1999, illustrates something of the nature of the disease. "A mysterious epidemic spread through the Los Angeles County Hospital, in California, in 1934. Nurses and doctors succumbed to a strange mix of fatigue, muscle pain and emotional distress. The first suspect was polio � the symptoms were similar, and fear of the disease was rampant at the time. Yet tests for polio revealed nothing and, bizarrely, the hospital�s patients remained unaffected. A similar pattern of events occurred in 1955, at the Royal Free Hospital in London. Again, patients were untouched. And in both cases, most of those who succumbed were women."
Returning to the theme, then, the truth is that nobody really knows if CFS is really a new syndrome. In fact, women have apparently always been affected by similar ailments, but in the past they were not taken seriously. The problem was once known generally as "hysteria." Freud used the term neurosis, and other terms have been used in the intervening century include "neurasthenia" (meaning nervous weakness, essentially). In general, the (mostly) women who suffered from such disorders were given psychiatric diagnoses, and the treatments � principally, rest -- were consistent with these diagnoses.
Nobody really understands why these diseases are so much more prevalent among women than men. One theory, that seems most popular in Japan, is that women are under greater social stress, and hence become ill more frequently than men. This is in a sense a continuation of the hysteria idea, except that instead of saying the patient is susceptible to stress, it shifts the blame to society. However, it is still essentially a continuation of the idea that "It�s all in your head."
Another idea, that holds some weight, is that the prevalence may actually be fairly equal, but that men tend to "self-medicate" with alcohol, instead of visiting the doctor. In this case, there might be a difference not in the disease but in the recognition of it.
Finally, there is a hypothesis that there is some biological difference that leads to the bias in prevalence. Proponents of this idea can point to the fact that there is a certain class of diseases, which are well defined and have a known cause that are more prevalent among women. They are called auto-immune disorders, and include lupus as well as rheumatoid arthritis and Crohn�s disease. One theory is that these ailments may be more common among women because women carry babies, and hence must keep within their bodies an entity that is essentially foreign.
Japan and Autonomic Imbalance
The idea that CFS is a problem of stress leads in to the issue of Japan. Here, the diagnosis of CFS is hardly ever given at all. It is included in the home medical guide that I have at home, but only as a small footnote, not as an entry. There is a group at Osaka Medical University doing research and clinical practice, but primary physicians are usually not aware of the diagnosis, except perhaps as "something they have in the U.S."
So patients are not given the diagnosis of CFS in Japan. Which does not mean, however, that there are no patients with the symptoms. In fact, Dr. Iida Toshiho from Saku Central Hospital in Nagano Prefecture was quoted by the New York Times as saying that 70% of his patients suffered from chronic fatigue. There is another diagnosis, however, that is used in its place. The symptoms are pretty much identical. Imagine for a second, though, being told that you were ill with an "autonomic imbalance." You might be concerned, wondering if you were about to lose your balance and fall over . . . Actually, in Japan, people who go to their doctor and complain that they are ill, but without any clear problem, are often diagnosed with this syndrome, known as jiritsu shinkei shichosho. There are also many "self-help" books available on the subject, and they are out on the shelves in bookstores, right along tomes on more "conventional" illnesses such as cancer, diabetes or high blood pressure. An exact translation of the Japanese name would be "autonomous nerve dysfunction," but despite the serious-sounding name, autonomic imbalance is not generally a major problem. The books make it clear that it is a problem caused by "stress," and surprise, surprise, the treatment is mainly tranquilizers and rest. Sound familiar?
Feminism and CFS
So this is where CFS comes into the picture. I don�t believe it is a pure coincidence that the diagnosis was developed during the 1980s, when the effects of feminism and other ideas involving human rights � such as patients� rights -- were being felt. The predominantly women patients began to lose patience at being told, "It�s all in your head." And it is no doubt partially as a response to this that the diagnosis of CFS came about. Interestingly, although the diagnosis has changed, very little is understood about the condition, hence the treatment is basically the same as it once was � tranquilizers, anti-depressants, painkillers, and rest.
Incidentally, I personally believe that there is more to CFS than a simple psychiatric issue, of the "stress of being a housewife" or the "stress of living in modern society." Just because we don�t understand the etiology of an illness does not automatically means that it is "all in the patient�s head." What is different between the US and Japan is that there is really no movement at all to find an organic cause for autonomic imbalance. The debate is dominated by health professionals, and there are no movements by women or other patients demanding changes in its treatment or social context.
Against Psychosomatic Illness
The idea of psychosomatic illness is that the physical symptoms of a patient are brought about by the mind. In other words, the patient does not really have any physical problem, but experiences problems due to stress or psychological problems.
As a patient there are obvious reasons to dislike this characterization. The patient feels poorly, yet those around the patient take his or problems lightly. At times they offer "encouragement" in the form of things like "Snap out of it."
However, this kind of stigmatization is not really a good reason to criticize the diagnosis. After all, if the notion is true, then there is little value in denying the truth just to remove these sorts of attitudes. It wouldn�t change anything.
The problem, rather, is the possibility that it is not true. It is certain, yes, that patients with such "psychosomatic" disorders do not usually show any clear medical problems that could explain the symptoms. However, this only means that with the technology in use today, we cannot discover any serious problem.
And this is where the trouble starts. There would be some clear biomedical issue that really exists, and that could be corrected medically by some as yet unknown technique.
However, as long as the label of "psychosomatic" illness is maintained, little serious research goes into the pathology of such syndromes. There are a number of researchers who have dedicated themselves to changing this, but they are generally outsiders, without access to grant resources, and at times can be, to put it generously, a bit eccentric in their medical ideas.
Interestingly, to return to the theme of feminism for a moment, some women in the West argue that it is precisely because the disease is seen as a women�s problem that it remains mysterious. They point to the enormous gap in resources spent on AIDS, which is still generally a disease of men, compared to CFS. CFS may have been called by different names, but perhaps reflecting its nature as a "women�s ailment, " all seem to emphasize the emotional aspects.
It seems to me that a good way out would come from a frank recognition that there is a lot we do not understand. Rather than saying "It�s just imaginary," we should frankly admit that there might be something there after all.
A Postmodern Plague Ravages Japan's Workers
Now, why would such a sleepy town like Saku, Japan have such a high rate of Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (aka M.E.)? Well, considering that fact that it is a ski town one would have to accept the fact that the town is probably blanketed in microwave antennas which are more than likely slowly cooking its population.
Saku Journal: A Postmodern Plague Ravages Japan's Workers
By HOWARD W. FRENCH
Published: February 21, 2000
The air is remarkably crisp in this town at the edge of Japan's ski country. The streets are uncluttered with traffic. And unlike in high-decibel Tokyo, the prevailing sound here is that of silence.
But for all its appearance as a haven of tranquillity, this city of 60,000 stands on the front lines of a stress-related condition that is quietly ravaging Japan.
When the Japanese government announced recently that one-third of the working-age population was suffering from chronic fatigue, few stress-haunted denizens of Tokyo, with its heavy overcrowding, unrelenting pace and impersonal nature, could have been taken aback.
What is far more surprising is that quiet little towns like these are being hit every bit as hard by a poorly understood condition that leaves many of its victims incapacitated for months or years on end.
In the hulking, modern general hospital at town's edge, 32 percent of the patients hospitalized in the internal medicine and psychology ward are being treated for chronic fatigue syndrome, a diagnosis that is made only after six months of severe, continuous fatigue in the absence of any known organic illness.
Many of them, indeed, are immediately recognizable by the heavy air of weariness that surrounds them as they slump in their seats, waiting to see their doctors in the ward.
''I could not even get up from my chair before my treatment,'' said Hiroaki Sugihara, 36, who was hospitalized here for three months recently. ''I was too tired to walk, and it was very difficult for me to get around, even in the house.''
With treatments of antidepressants, biofeedback and counseling, Mr. Sugihara has found his life slowly edging toward normality since, although he says he still lacks stamina. ''Of course I would like to become energetic again, but I don't think I will ever be able to work as hard,'' he said. ''I just want to be healthy.''
Mr. Sugihara's condition may have been related to the overwork that he said he once commonly engaged in as a freelance computer programmer. Indeed, during Japan's boom years, in the 1970's and 1980's, as many as 10,000 people were believed to die annually from ''karoshi,'' or overwork.
But doctors here say that the explosion of chronic tiredness and of chronic fatigue syndrome in particular is a distinctly postboom phenomenon. More complex than simple overwork, they say, it is increasingly associated with the stresses placed on this society since it began its dramatic economic slide more than 10 years ago.
In the United States, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says the syndrome affects perhaps 4 to 8 percent of the population over 18. Its symptoms, which include weakness, profound lassitude, difficulty concentrating, insomnia and low-grade fever, remain equally unexplained.
But in Japan, where the condition appears to be far more prevalent, the experts lean toward explanations that emphasize societal mutations far more than their American counterparts.
''The number of patients like these is on the increase,'' said Dr. Toshiho Iida, a specialist in treating chronic fatigue syndrome at the hospital. ''As for the causes, they are many, but we think they have to do with the changes in Japanese society which have been accelerating in the last five or ten years.
''The changes range from eating habits, environmental problems, housing, and many other things too. In the urban areas, for example, people no longer know who lives next door to them anymore, and that produces stress.''
During Japan's economic downturn, many businessmen and workers have taken their change of fortune personally. Struggling against huge debts, many have found themselves working harder and harder to meet their commitments and maintain their living standards.
''Part of it is stress, part of it is depression-related, part of it may be caused by infection, and part of it is certainly overwork, because overwork is still rampant in Japan,'' said Dr. Masumi Minowa, an epidemiologist at the National Institute of Public Health, whose recent random study of 4,000 people found that 35 percent had experienced chronic fatigue for at least six months.
Among the social factors that therapists and researchers are pointing to as potential contributing factors are family relationships, which are under great strain.
Grown children, with few job prospects are slower to leave the home. With a fast-aging population, more aged parents, too, must be cared for. And rather than committing themselves to the rat race their parents have known, many younger children are opting for unconventional lifestyles that involve far more attention to enjoyment and far less emphasis on hard work.
Satoe Yamada, 24, a rail-thin worker at a photo lab, described her condition -- which led to rapid weight loss, and left her with pronounced bags under her eyes -- as an onslaught of stress. Bit by bit, feeling exhausted by her contacts with others, she said she began to withdraw. Then, when she switched to a new job, where she was asked to work long hours, her bout began with chronic fatigue syndrome -- a condition she had never heard of.
''There were various problems at home,'' she said, not wishing to explain further. ''I was feeling stress from my family and friends. And I had a new job.
''I couldn't sleep even when I wanted to sleep. And the food I ate didn't seem to nourish me. I lost 10 pounds in two weeks.''
Saku Journal: A Postmodern Plague Ravages Japan's Workers
By HOWARD W. FRENCH
Published: February 21, 2000
The air is remarkably crisp in this town at the edge of Japan's ski country. The streets are uncluttered with traffic. And unlike in high-decibel Tokyo, the prevailing sound here is that of silence.
But for all its appearance as a haven of tranquillity, this city of 60,000 stands on the front lines of a stress-related condition that is quietly ravaging Japan.
When the Japanese government announced recently that one-third of the working-age population was suffering from chronic fatigue, few stress-haunted denizens of Tokyo, with its heavy overcrowding, unrelenting pace and impersonal nature, could have been taken aback.
What is far more surprising is that quiet little towns like these are being hit every bit as hard by a poorly understood condition that leaves many of its victims incapacitated for months or years on end.
In the hulking, modern general hospital at town's edge, 32 percent of the patients hospitalized in the internal medicine and psychology ward are being treated for chronic fatigue syndrome, a diagnosis that is made only after six months of severe, continuous fatigue in the absence of any known organic illness.
Many of them, indeed, are immediately recognizable by the heavy air of weariness that surrounds them as they slump in their seats, waiting to see their doctors in the ward.
''I could not even get up from my chair before my treatment,'' said Hiroaki Sugihara, 36, who was hospitalized here for three months recently. ''I was too tired to walk, and it was very difficult for me to get around, even in the house.''
With treatments of antidepressants, biofeedback and counseling, Mr. Sugihara has found his life slowly edging toward normality since, although he says he still lacks stamina. ''Of course I would like to become energetic again, but I don't think I will ever be able to work as hard,'' he said. ''I just want to be healthy.''
Mr. Sugihara's condition may have been related to the overwork that he said he once commonly engaged in as a freelance computer programmer. Indeed, during Japan's boom years, in the 1970's and 1980's, as many as 10,000 people were believed to die annually from ''karoshi,'' or overwork.
But doctors here say that the explosion of chronic tiredness and of chronic fatigue syndrome in particular is a distinctly postboom phenomenon. More complex than simple overwork, they say, it is increasingly associated with the stresses placed on this society since it began its dramatic economic slide more than 10 years ago.
In the United States, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says the syndrome affects perhaps 4 to 8 percent of the population over 18. Its symptoms, which include weakness, profound lassitude, difficulty concentrating, insomnia and low-grade fever, remain equally unexplained.
But in Japan, where the condition appears to be far more prevalent, the experts lean toward explanations that emphasize societal mutations far more than their American counterparts.
''The number of patients like these is on the increase,'' said Dr. Toshiho Iida, a specialist in treating chronic fatigue syndrome at the hospital. ''As for the causes, they are many, but we think they have to do with the changes in Japanese society which have been accelerating in the last five or ten years.
''The changes range from eating habits, environmental problems, housing, and many other things too. In the urban areas, for example, people no longer know who lives next door to them anymore, and that produces stress.''
During Japan's economic downturn, many businessmen and workers have taken their change of fortune personally. Struggling against huge debts, many have found themselves working harder and harder to meet their commitments and maintain their living standards.
''Part of it is stress, part of it is depression-related, part of it may be caused by infection, and part of it is certainly overwork, because overwork is still rampant in Japan,'' said Dr. Masumi Minowa, an epidemiologist at the National Institute of Public Health, whose recent random study of 4,000 people found that 35 percent had experienced chronic fatigue for at least six months.
Among the social factors that therapists and researchers are pointing to as potential contributing factors are family relationships, which are under great strain.
Grown children, with few job prospects are slower to leave the home. With a fast-aging population, more aged parents, too, must be cared for. And rather than committing themselves to the rat race their parents have known, many younger children are opting for unconventional lifestyles that involve far more attention to enjoyment and far less emphasis on hard work.
Satoe Yamada, 24, a rail-thin worker at a photo lab, described her condition -- which led to rapid weight loss, and left her with pronounced bags under her eyes -- as an onslaught of stress. Bit by bit, feeling exhausted by her contacts with others, she said she began to withdraw. Then, when she switched to a new job, where she was asked to work long hours, her bout began with chronic fatigue syndrome -- a condition she had never heard of.
''There were various problems at home,'' she said, not wishing to explain further. ''I was feeling stress from my family and friends. And I had a new job.
''I couldn't sleep even when I wanted to sleep. And the food I ate didn't seem to nourish me. I lost 10 pounds in two weeks.''
Stressing the Earth's Energy Grid
LEY-LINE OVERLOAD, EMF AND HUMAN HEALTH
Our planet has an intrinsic system for circulating and regulating energy flow, which makes up our environment. The planet circulates electromagnetic energy from the atmosphere and recirculates it through a system or more like a grid like arrangement of lines, which underlay the surface of the planet called ley lines. As discussed in previous articles, living organisms have adapted themselves to utilize and orient themselves within the earth’s magnetic fields. Disturbances either through electromagnetic pollution of the atmosphere or a combination of a disruption through the electromagnetic conducting properties of the earth will produce a host of syndromes collectively noted as electrical hypersensitivity syndrome.
Human beings as well as other living organisms have a host of tissues, which are ferromagnetic and have piezo electric properties. These tend to orient the organism and regulate energy production or flow in the body. They tend to operate optimally when an individual is properly in balance with the earth’s electromagnetic fields. The systems variously denoting these fields have been empirically noted under the nomenclature of Chinese medicines meridian flow or as has been recently described as the auric field of individuals.
Of note the preponderant flow through the ley lines varies according to the side of the planet one is on. This accounts for the particular geological symmetry that is noted on either half of the planet. In the hemisphere of the Americas the predominant flow is from north to south. In the European-Asian continent the predominant flow is from east to west. Animals tend to orient themselves accordingly to the predominate flow patterns in the area that they live in. Anecdotal evidence suggests that individuals on the America continents tend to feel better when they are oriented in a north-south flow versus Europeans or Asians who are tend to orient in an east-west direction.
Overloading the total electromagnetic circulation of the planet through the increased use of emf and other forms of electrical pollution has a deleterious affect on the individual’s natural ability to orient within the earths electromagnetic fields. This element of geopathic stress is another feature of electromagnetic pollution, which is occurring and has to be dealt with.
Since an individual has adapted to both orienting within the earths atmospheric electromagnetic field and the earth's, a disturbance in either or both will have an effect on the ability of the individual to orient and regulate their own electromagnetic fields. The inability to orient and regulate electrical flow in a given area will also result in disease.
Sincerely
G. Goldberg, MD
Author: “Would you put your head in a microwave oven”
Our planet has an intrinsic system for circulating and regulating energy flow, which makes up our environment. The planet circulates electromagnetic energy from the atmosphere and recirculates it through a system or more like a grid like arrangement of lines, which underlay the surface of the planet called ley lines. As discussed in previous articles, living organisms have adapted themselves to utilize and orient themselves within the earth’s magnetic fields. Disturbances either through electromagnetic pollution of the atmosphere or a combination of a disruption through the electromagnetic conducting properties of the earth will produce a host of syndromes collectively noted as electrical hypersensitivity syndrome.
Human beings as well as other living organisms have a host of tissues, which are ferromagnetic and have piezo electric properties. These tend to orient the organism and regulate energy production or flow in the body. They tend to operate optimally when an individual is properly in balance with the earth’s electromagnetic fields. The systems variously denoting these fields have been empirically noted under the nomenclature of Chinese medicines meridian flow or as has been recently described as the auric field of individuals.
Of note the preponderant flow through the ley lines varies according to the side of the planet one is on. This accounts for the particular geological symmetry that is noted on either half of the planet. In the hemisphere of the Americas the predominant flow is from north to south. In the European-Asian continent the predominant flow is from east to west. Animals tend to orient themselves accordingly to the predominate flow patterns in the area that they live in. Anecdotal evidence suggests that individuals on the America continents tend to feel better when they are oriented in a north-south flow versus Europeans or Asians who are tend to orient in an east-west direction.
Overloading the total electromagnetic circulation of the planet through the increased use of emf and other forms of electrical pollution has a deleterious affect on the individual’s natural ability to orient within the earths electromagnetic fields. This element of geopathic stress is another feature of electromagnetic pollution, which is occurring and has to be dealt with.
Since an individual has adapted to both orienting within the earths atmospheric electromagnetic field and the earth's, a disturbance in either or both will have an effect on the ability of the individual to orient and regulate their own electromagnetic fields. The inability to orient and regulate electrical flow in a given area will also result in disease.
Sincerely
G. Goldberg, MD
Author: “Would you put your head in a microwave oven”
Wednesday, July 11, 2007
Eileen O´Connor´s Story
Eileen O´Connor´s Story
United Kingdom
Contamination level: Feeling violently sick all the time.
Author: Eileen O´Connor Created: 1 Nov 2006 Updated: 1 Nov 2006 Viewed: 1578 time(s)
I have no doubt in my mind either that I am a victim to long term exposure to radiation from a phone mast. Almost five years ago I developed breast cancer at the age of 38 with no history of breast cancer in my family and living a healthy life style.
This case file has 2 entries and has been commented by 8 people
EMF Discussion Group at the Health Protection Agency for Radiation Protection (HPA - RPD) on 2nd March 2006
Created: 1 Nov 2006
October, 2006
Mobile Phone/Mast Radiation
I attended the first meeting for the EMF Discussion Group at the Health Protection Agency for Radiation Protection (HPA - RPD) on 2nd March 2006; the meeting was chaired by Sir William Stewart and included key people from the HPA, Department of Health, Mobile Operators Association (MOA) and representatives from campaign groups. It was a positive meeting and hopefully the first of many. Sir William has invited the EMF Discussion Group to provide a forum to consider health concerns related to exposure to EMFs and provide an input to EMF advice from the HPA.
Discussion needs to be followed up with action and I along with fellow members of the group are committed on behalf of EHS people, cancer patients and the many other people suffering with problems related to emfs to see this through to the end. I would like to take this opportunity to thank Sir William Stewart for opening up an important and urgent debate.
You will be pleased to know that the record note of the March 2nd meeting is now posted on the HPA web site. The second meeting is due to take place in October 2006.
The address is given below:
http://www.hpa.org.uk/radiation/understand/radiation_topics/emf/emfdg/index.htm
ICNIRP (International Commission on Non-Ionising Radiation Protection) is reviewing its safety Guidelines for exposure to EMR - April 2006.
The U.S. Federal Communications Commission, (FCC's) exposure guidelines are considered protective of effects arising from a thermal mechanism but not from all possible mechanisms. Therefore, the generalisation by many that the guidelines protect human beings from harm by any or all mechanisms is not justified" Norbert Hankin, Key EPA (Environmental Protection Agency) scientist USA.
Dr.George. 'Carlo Carroll &Graff 2001'. Safe levels of exposure to all forms of radiation have been lowered continuously since the 1920s. They seem to get it wrong every time! From; Cell Phones Invisible Hazards in the Wireless Age.
The UK has allowed the highest output of radiation in the world. The UK recently adopted lower levels of radiation by accepting guidelines set by the International Commission on Non-Ionising Radiation Protection 'ICNIRP'. However, the ICNIRP standard does not offer any form of protection other than from the heating effects of microwave radiation. In other words ICNIRP only protects your body from properties of high levels of elevated temperatures. A very substantial body of peer reviewed science clearly shows many biological changes have already happened.
The Government and Health Protection Agency Radiation Protection (HPA RPD) -formerly known as the NRPB now admit that magnetic fields at the power levels of 0.4 microtesla doubles the risk of contracting leukaemia, whilst other European Countries have brought down their power levels to 1 or 2 microtesla, the UK remain 100 times higher.
See Telegraph news report: Pylon cancer fears put £7bn blight on house prices.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml;jsessionid=KICYAAGPSMXEHQFIQMFSFFOAVCBQ0IV0?xml=/news/2006/04/29/npylons29.xml&sSheet=/portal/2006/04/29/ixportaltop.html
Other countries such as Taiwan and Vietnam are now taking measures to protect the public from EMF exposures.
Taiwan
http://www.digitimes.com/telecom/a20060316A9052.html
Electromagnetic radiation issues mean large costs for mobile-telecom carriers in Taiwan. Yinxuan Wang, Taipei; Adam Hwang, DigiTimes.com [Thursday 16 March 2006] According to TTIDA statistics, about 2,700 of 49,000 existing base stations around Taiwan were under protest and nearly 900 were finally demolished in 2005. The operators spent a total of more than (US$30.8 million) in dealing with such issues. This year, the total cost incurred is likely to rise to (US$61.7 million), the operators estimate.
Vietnam
http://www.thanhniennews.com/society/?catid=3&newsid=13602
Protective shielding to go up near high-voltage power lines
Some 2,099 households in central Vietnam are to be protected from dangerous electromagnetic fields emanating from a high-voltage power line with shielding technology, said Power Company No 2. The shields are to be set up to protect homes in line with Electromagnetic Compatibility (EMC) practice by end of March through central Vietnam, beginning in Gia Lai province and running north to Quang Binh province.
Leukemia, lymphoma and cancer of the nervous system are diseases that can be caused in children exposed to the powerful electromagnetic waves without protection.
The shield system is considered the most effective measure to combat the waves and effectively protect anyone that spends excessive periods of time near high-voltage power lines. Reported by Quang Thang - Translated by Thanh Tuan
A report on electronic smog by Geoffrey Lean, Environment Editor writing for the UK Independent news paper 7th May 2006. It states the curse of the mobile phone age: around your home there are countless gadgets whose electrical fields, scientists now warn, are linked to depression, miscarriage and cancer. Please go to enclosed website link for more information.
http://news.independent.co.uk/environment/article362557.ece
Reporter Nic Flemings article in the Telegraph 4/11/2005 reported Dr Jill Meara of the UK Health Protection Agency as saying people who think they suffer from electro-sensitivity should consider keeping their distance from electrical appliances. This was the advice from the Health Protection Agency following the Irvine report:
http://www.hpa.org.uk/radiation/publications/hpa_rpd_reports/index.htm
It is not good enough telling the estimated 2 million EHS people suffering to keep their distance from electric devices. What do you do if you have a phone mast next to your home? How do you keep away from that?
What sort of society are we living in when only certain people are allowed to earn a living, consigning the rest to live out their lives in pain, enforced poverty and isolation? By encouraging the proliferation of wireless devices, society has created an invisible under-class who are denied the opportunities available to everyone else. ES victims are often unable to use their talents and capabilities to earn a living through denial of access to transport and places most people take for granted. With other forms of disability, society has taken the view that such a situation is unacceptable and as legislated to ensure equal access and equal opportunity.
It is unacceptable to say "keep your distance from electrical appliances" or "Get over it, take a pain killer" then you could travel to work and be employed in our WiFi office surrounded by cordless and mobile phones". Why should EHS people in the UK be any different to the recognised EHS people in Sweden?
We want prevention and protection, we need to be treated with respect and honestly represented by the people in power we deserve nothing less.
The UK Government has taken over £22 billion in the selling of the licences to the mobile phone industry. They put £3.5 million back into research along with £3.5 million from the Mobile Phone Industry. Further support was announced on November, 04 for research on three additional studies for the MTHR programme. While we welcome further research, we are concerned that it lacks true independence and would prefer the funding to go to an independent group of scientists.
Other countries medical professions recognise that some people are sensitive to non-ionising radiation. Sweden now has a medical register of 285,000 and California 700,000. We believe these figures are underestimated, since many people are not aware that their symptoms are connected to a condition known as electro-sensitivity or hypersensitivity (EHS) people. However, if the same figures apply to the UK this could indicate over 2.1 million people are knowingly or unknowingly affected to environmental fields (EMF).
Sir William Stewart, head of the UK's Health Protection Agency (HPA), has called for the precautionary principle to be invoked, especially where children are concerned, as they will absorb a higher dose of radiation and for a longer period of time.
We are now seeing evidence of cancer clusters appearing in radiation from phone masts after long-term exposure, throughout the UK. There appears to be a cancer epidemic across Europe with younger people developing this deadly disease.
The Naila Study, Germany (November 2004) – This study, conducted over 10 years was released by The Federal Agency for Radiation Protection, Germany. Medical doctors compiled case histories since 1994 – 2004, looking at heightened risk of taking ill with malignant tumours. They discovered a threefold increase after five years exposure to microwave radiation from a mobile phone mast transmitter for up to 400 metres distance, compared to those patients living further away.
A study carried out by Ronni Wolf MD and Danny Wolf MD, Kaplan Medical Centre, Israel (April 2004) discovered a fourfold increase in cancer within 350 metres after long-term exposure to microwave radiation from a mobile phone mast and a tenfold increase specifically among women, compared to patients living away from the masts.
Six other short-term mobile phone mast studies have also found significant health effects such as headaches, dizziness, depression, fatigue, sleep disorder, difficulty in concentration and cardiovascular problems:
1)H-P Hutter, H Moshammer, P Wallner and M Kundi
http://oem.bmjjournals.com/cgi/content/abstract/63/5/307
Subjective symptoms, sleeping problems, and cognitive performance in subjects living near mobile phone base stations: Conclusion: Despite very low exposure to HF-EMF, effects on wellbeing and performance cannot be ruled out, as shown by recently obtained experimental results; however, mechanisms of action at these low levels are unknown.
2) Santini et al (Paris) [Pathologie Biologie (Paris)] 2002
http://www.emrnetwork.org/position/santini_hearing_march6_02.pdf
3) Netherlands Ministries of Economic Affairs, Housing, Spatial Planning and Environment and Health Welfare and Sport. (TNO) 2003
http://www.unizh.ch/phar/sleep/handy/tnoabstractE.htm
4)The Microwave Syndrome – Further Aspect of a Spanish Study – Oberfeld Gerd. Press International Conference in Kos (Greece), 2004
http://www.mindfully.org/Technology/2004/Microwave-Syndrome-Oberfeld1may04.htm
5) Austrian scientists Dr Gerd Oberfeld send out a press release 1 May 2005 with this report:
'A study in Austria examined radiation from a mobile phone mast at a distance of 80 metres; EEG tests of 12 electro-sensitive people proved significant changes in the electrical currents of the brains. Volunteers for the test reported symptoms like buzzing in the head, palpitations of the heart, un-wellness, light headedness, anxiety, breathlessness, respiratory problems, nervousness, agitation, headache, tinnitus, heat sensation and depression.
6)Bamberg, Germany 26-April, 2005
Dr C Waldmann-Selsam, Dr U. Säeger,
Bamberg, Oberfranken evaluated the medical complaints of 356 people who have had long-term [radiation] exposure in their homes from pulsed high frequency magnetic fields (from mobile phone base stations, from cord-less DECT telephones, amongst others).
People suffer from one, several or many of the following symptoms:
Sleep disturbances, tiredness, disturbance in concentration, forgetfulness, problem with finding words, depressive mood, ear noises, sudden loss of hearing, hearing loss, giddiness, nose bleeds, visual disturbances, frequent infections, sinusitis, joint and limb pains, nerve and soft tissue pains, feeling of numbness, heart rhythm disturbances, increased blood pressure episodes, hormonal disturbances, night-time sweats, nausea:
Open letter to German Prime Minister following from the Bamberger study http://www.tetrawatch.net/links/links.php?id=stoiberlet
If you compare the results of the "Bamberger Appell" study to "The Microwave Syndrome – Further Aspects of a Spanish Study Oberfeld & Navarro 2004". Both studies seem to show the same symptoms being reported at the same level of powerflux density.
Campaign groups have also been working with retired physicist Dr John Walker. Six studies now show an increase in serious illness appearing in radiation from masts after long-term exposure. I would suggest that the threefold increase found in the Naila study up to 400m and the fourfold increase found in the Israel study will be much higher. These figures will be diluted; they will have taken in the whole area within the 350/400m range. Dr John Walker's research clearly shows the clusters of illness appear in radiation at exposures of around 1.5v/m, which is below the guidelines significantly permitting around 40 to 50 v/m (varying according to microwave frequency). . We believe the increase will be approx 10 to 12 per cent within concentrated areas see examples at-: http://www.starweave.com/gallery/
This situation demands proper and full investigation.
The hamlet of Wishaw is a prime example-:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2003/04/25/nmast25.xml
Five ladies developed breast cancer
One case of prostrate cancer
One bladder cancer
One lung cancer
Three cases of pre-cancer cervical cells
One motor neurone disease age 51, who also had massive tumour removed from the top of his spine.
People have developed benign lumps
Electro-sensitivity
Three cases of severe skin rashes
Many villagers suffering with sleep problems, headaches, dizziness and low immune system problems.
Horse with blood problems, continuous treatment needed by the vet.
Out of the eighteen houses surrounding the mast at up to a range of 500 metres, 77% of the tiny hamlet had health related illness believed to be as a result of radiation from the mast. The out break of illness occurred in 2001 after seven years of exposure to the radiation emitted by the T-Mobile mast. We are now in contact/communication with many people who are suffering from this form of radiation throughout the UK and Europe.
One other important fact is that since the Wishaw Mast vanished on November 2003, many of the residents are reporting a restored feeling of well-being. The residents are reporting improvement in their sleep patterns and increased energy levels. The headaches and dizzy symptoms have disappeared. We have recently seen a baby boom with three babies born in the village, one of the ladies had previously had treatment for pre-cancer cervical cells, another had previously suffered a miscarriage. We have also seen a return of wildlife in the area and the horse has since recovered and is now strong and healthy and no longer needs treatment. Finally a tree has blossomed for the first time in 10 years in line with the mast.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2003/11/30/nmast30.xml&sSheet=/news/2003/11/30/ixhome.html
Many animal studies have shown biological effects. The most recent study White Stork Ciconia ciconia by Alfonso Balmori Valladolid, Spain is published in Electromagnetic Biology and Medicine, 24: 109-119, 2005.]
Behavioural observations of white stork nesting sites up to 300 metres were carried out. Productivity and behavioural observations were made. The results have shown microwaves are interfering with reproduction which is comparable with other lab studies.
Loscher and Kas of Universities of Hannover Veterinary School and University of the German Army in Munich 1998.
A study funded by the Bavarian State Government in Germany following reported adverse health effects in dairy cattle after a Telecoms Mast had been erected. There was a significant drop in the milk yield of that herd of cattle and Extraordinary Behaviour Disorders in some of the cows related to the microwave transmissions from that Mast. When the cattle were moved away from its vicinity after a period the milk yield and the behaviour of that herd was totally restored to normal. However, when the cattle were returned to the mast environment their symptoms returned.
Animal studies are of great importance as biological effects cannot be put down to psychological effects.
Microwaves seem to also be interfering with human reproduction according to a recent paper by Dr Imre Fejes of the obstetrics and gynaecology department at the University of Szeged in Hungary who concludes: "The prolonged use of cell phones may have a negative effect on sperm production and male fertility that deteriorates both concentration and motility." See news report-: http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,2087-1159951,00.html
The effects of EMR are being felt by wildlife and the environment as a whole, Birds, bees, worms, trees are all being affected. We need to fight for not only the future of mankind but for the future of the whole environment.
Vienna physicians are displaying information posters in doctor's surgeries. They state radiation from mobile phones is far from being harmless as they have been told by the cell phone companies. They have therefore, in order to act responsibly, the Chamber of Doctors in Vienna, Austria, has decided to inform people about potential medical risks.
Medical Doctors are also campaigning for precaution.
Finland: Helsinki Appeal 2005
http://www.emrpolicy.org/news/headlines/helsinki_appeal_05.pdf
The Helsinki Appeal 2005 from EMF Team Finland calls on the European Parliament to act promptly for the adoption of the new safety standard in the European Union. Physicians and researchers, feel great concern about the Precautionary Principle not being sufficiently applied to electromagnetic fields. They want the standards recommended by ICNIRP to be rejected, because recent scientific studies report various disturbances caused by mobile phone and other RF radiation. They also appeal to the European Community to take prompt measures for solving the refunding of the REFLEX project, which showed evidence of genotoxic effects of mobile phone radiation and should be continued:
http://www.emrpolicy.org/
The Irish Doctors' Environmental Association believes that a sub-group of the population are particularly sensitive to exposure to different types of electro-magnetic radiation. The safe levels currently advised for exposure to this non-ionising radiation are based solely on its thermal effects. However, it is clear that this radiation also has non-thermal effects, which need to be taken into consideration when setting these safe levels. The electro-sensitivity experienced by some people results in a variety of distressing symptoms which must also be taken into account when setting safe levels for exposure to non-ionising radiation and when planning the siting of masts and transmitters.
Catania Resolution September 13-14, 2002, 16 world leading scientists at the International Conference State of the Research on Electromagnetic Fields, Scientific and Legal Issues, by ISPESL*, the University of Vienna, and the City of Catania, held in Catania (Italy) on September, 2002,
Thirty GPs in Liverpool
http://icliverpool.icnetwork.co.uk/0100news/0100regionalnews/tm_objectid=13656858&method=full&siteid=50061-name_page.html
It was reported in the Liverpool Echo on November 2003 "bad medicine". A group of thirty, hospital doctors and consultants have signed a petition over the installation of a mast which they believe is a risk to health.
Freiburger Appeal
http://www.laleva.cc/environment/freiburger_appeal.html
In October 2002 a team of German medical doctors started the Freiburger Appeal. After seeing a dramatic rise in severe and chronic diseases, they have noted a clear temporal and spatial correlation between disease and exposure to microwave radiation. The appeal has since been signed by thousands of doctors.
My oncologist and breast cancer surgeon supplied me with a letter on 9th December 2003 stating that "we agree that there is some scientific evidence that suggests microwaves can damage cells but as yet there is no direct evidence that this is a problem in humans. We would agree that this issue needs to be raised at the highest level and funding released to support the debate and independent research to get a definitive answer."
Furthermore, the Russians, Chinese and many other parts of Europe are rejecting ICNIRP standards and are concerned about the biological effects. The Ministry of Chinese Health revealed that in the last ten years studies on radiation similar to that emitted by the mobile phone industry have shown a majority of results are showing biological effects. Out of 154 studies, 88 or 57% have shown biological effects such as cancer, genetic molecular and cellular changes, electro physiology effects, behaviour changes etc. in a survey by Dr Henry Lai, Washington University, Seattle 2003. It said that the amount of evidence for biological effects and the characteristics of these are so alarming, that all efforts should be dedicated to find a way to minimize these effects.
China held an International Conference September 2005 in order to discuss and establish Asian Commission on Non-Ionizing Radiation Protection (ACNIRP). Research scientists have found that relatively low-level of RF (radio-frequency) radiation can lead to DNA breaks.
The REFLEX report also highlights RF-induced DNA breaks. The REFLEX project was set up to investigate the effects of low-levels of RF radiation on cellular systems; cost of approximately $3 million. The work was carried out by 12 research groups in seven European countries. Yet again it was shown RF radiation could increase the number of DNA breaks in exposed cells and could also activate a stress response – the production of heat shock proteins.
It was clear chromosome damage could be seen in the cell exposed to mobile phone radiation over 24 hour's exposure at SAR level 1.3W/kg, ICNIRP/WHO level = 2W/kg, similar chromosome damage can be seen in the cell exposed to irradiation equal to 1600 chest x-rays.
You can view an image of the comet-assay cell damage on Dr Gerd Oberfeld's Westminster Presentation on www.radiationresearch.org
Full report visit: http://www.verum-foundation.de/www2004/html/pdf/euprojekte01/REFLEX_Final%20Report_Part%201.pdf
The Daily Mail reported a 25% increase in young people being hit by mouth cancer on 25/9/05. The British Dental Health Foundation (BDHF) said risk factors are normally caused by smoking and drinking, however none of these are common risks in younger people. The figure is forecast to rise sharply in the next ten years, with people in their twenties and thirties increasingly vulnerable. (Daily Mail Report 10/11/03).
I am concerned that radiation from phones will intensify around the mouth if children or adults are wearing braces or have fillings, metal intensifies radiation. See statement: http://www.chemistryquestion.com/English/Questions/ChemistryInDailyLife/23c_microwave_metal.html . This is an area that needs urgent attention!!!
Also enclosed recent BBC report on 50% increase in cancer in teenagers as reported byTim Eden - from Manchester's Christie hospital http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/4366606.stm
I have taken this fight to Westminster, visited Director Generals in Brussels along with fellow trustee Mike Bell and scientists Dr Oberfeld and Professor Olle Johansson. I have given evidence to Birmingham and Liverpool City Council, met with Merseyside Fire Authority along side Dr Gerard Hyland and given presentations to 100's of packed meetings throughout the UK.
I attended a meeting with Health Secretary Patricia Hewitt on 6th January 2006 along with fellow trustee for the EM-Radiation Research Trust, Brian Stein. We presented her with a huge file of research/information for the Department of Health to consider. I summed up the meeting by quoting a paragraph taken from evidence provided by Robert O. Becker, M.D. in evidence given to Birmingham City Council Scrutiny Committee, quote:
Dr Robert O. Becker – twice nominated for the Nobel Prize
"I have no doubt in my mind that at the present time, the greatest polluting element in the earth's environment is the proliferation of electromagnetic fields. I consider that to be far greater on a global scale, than warming, and the increase in chemical elements in the environment.''
Overall background radiation is excessive not least because we have eleven national infrastructures, four GSM operators, five 3G, one TETRA and shortly the Network Rail GSM. No other utilities duplicate their infrastructures, yet maintain competition. Further, the mobile phone operators have gone far beyond being a utility, into hi-tech mass marketing of entertainment and business services.
The phone industry are un-elected officials who forcefully and undemocratically ignore the wishes and concerns of local communities.
For the sake of us all especially our children, non-ionising radiation is a high priority for public health. Mobile phone networks should use the lowest possible exposure values, exclusion zones for masts from schools and homes should be brought in based on current empirical evidence. A huge education programme should be launched providing public information, encouraging the use of mobile phones for emergency use only.
Mrs Eileen O'Connor
Trustee – EM Radiation Research Trust – www.radiationresearch.org
Founder – SCRAM (Seriously Concerned Residents Against Masts) www.scram.uk.com
Quotes:
There may be times when we are powerless to prevent injustice, but there must never be a time when we fail to protest.
- Elie Wiesel
It is the spirit and not the form of law that keeps justice alive.
- Earl Warren
You never change things by fighting the existing reality. To change something, build a new model that makes the existing model obsolete.
- Buckminster Fuller
This entry has 1 comment. Click here to view comments. Click here to write a comment.
I am almost scared to say that I am now almost five years clear of this terrible disease Created: 1 Nov 2006
Read the following paragraph by Dr Robert O. Becker, M.D. he was twice nominated for the Nobel Prize for his research into EMF's.
"I have no doubt in my mind that at the present time, the greatest polluting element in the earth's environment is the proliferation of electromagnetic fields. I consider that to be far greater on a global scale, than warming, and the increase in chemical elements in the environment.''
I have no doubt in my mind either that I am a victim to long term exposure to radiation from a phone mast. Almost five years ago I developed breast cancer the age of 38 with no history of breast cancer in my family and living a healthy life style.
In a recent report on 21/9/2006 the head of cancer registry in Berlin, Roland Stabenow informed the residents of Steinbach-Hallenberg in a recent conference, that there is an increase of 7 fold in breast cancer in their area (an area with cellular antennas). He emphasized that this is not a proof that the increase is linked to the antennas. He also talked about the causes of breast cancer. The attention to the place was drawn after a map was prepared by the residents and the cancer cases are near the antennas.
I am almost scared to say that I am now almost five years clear of this terrible disease and it had an enormous impact on my life and the lives of my family. It has been a long hard battle not only against breast cancer, but also against the insensitive siting of the T-Mobile phone mast which was 100 metres from my home. I now live in a cancer cluster which is one of many we have since discovered around phone masts after long term exposure. Thankfully the T-Mobile mast was torn down on 5th November 2003, go to the following link for more information: http://icbirmingham.icnetwork.co.uk/0100news/0100localnews/content_objectid=13895464_method=full_siteid=50002_headline=-Villagers-blaming-phone-mast-for-cancer-cases-name_page.html
I have continued to campaign 24/7 and am now at the highest level. I am now a member of the EMF Discussion Group which is chaired by Sir William Stewart, Chairman for the Health Protection Agency for the UK; please see enclosed details which include a link to minutes of our first meeting in March.
Our next meeting is on 16th October, 2006 at the Health Protection Agency in London. I have received an invitation to give a presentation to the group on mobile phone masts and health concerns. We are also discussing EMFs and the effects on melatonin and breast cancer. There have been concerns that exposure to electromagnetic fields (EMFs) might increase the risk of breast cancer.
There is evidence in abundance in support of the hypothesis that EMFs affects melatonin levels and the risk of breast cancer. There is a desperate need for INDEPENDENT funding for scientists to carry out this important work.
Please read the following critique of the HPA-RPD Melatonin Report, by Professor Dennis Henshaw, Bristol University published on 2nd March 2006
http://www.electric-fields.bris.ac.uk/CritAGNIR.htm
People can take measures to help avoid EMFs by using mobile phones for emergency calls only.
Stop using DECT phones, replace them with a fixed land line phones and also avoid wireless communication until a safer technology becomes available. But what do you do if there is a mast next to your home or wireless communication in your school or work place, how do you keep away from that?
If only I'd known about the research in connection with EMF's, I might have realised that it is not a good idea to live 100 metres from a 22.5 metre phone mast. Out of our tiny hamlet in Wishaw four other ladies developed breast cancer at the same time out of the 18 houses around surrounding the mast and one man died of motor neurone disease. I had been living next to the mast for over seven years before I was diagnosed with breast cancer. If only I had been told about the dangers, I might have realised that the years of suffering with sleep problems, headaches, vertigo, skin rashes, heart palpitations and low white blood cells had all been connected to radiation from the phone mast. This is a condition now known as electro sensitivity (EHS) I now realise that I am electro-sensitive mainly to microwave frequencies from phone masts and DECT phones. Don't be left using the words 'If only'! Isn't it better to be safe today rather than sorry tomorrow?
I have since campaigned constantly visiting the UK Parliament and have met many MPs, including Health Secretary Patricia Hewitt and Solicitor General Mike O'Brien. Our Prime Minister Tony Blair has refused to meet with me despite many requests from a number of MPs. He was quoted in the Birmingham Evening Mail as saying "he was more concerned about the damages to business and industry", could this have anything to do with the £22.5 billion pounds they took selling the licences to the phone industry?
I have given evidence at many Inquires in the UK and have visited the European Parliament in Brussels with Professor Olle Johansson and Dr Gerd Oberfeld.
A UK Ex-Government Military Scientist Barrie Trower, trained spies in microwave warfare and has given out the following statement:
"This Government, some of the Government Scientists and this Industry will be responsible for more deaths in peace time than any terrorist group in the world ever!"
I have enclosed a short 8 minute film which is worth watching, just click on the flag and wait a few minutes for it to download, it will give you an idea of the campaign in the UK. It has now been translated into French, German and Spanish.
Thank you to French – "Next up" Campaign Group for translating the enclosed film into other languages for people around the world to view. The film was produced by a group of media students from the University of Central England and captures the phone mast campaign in the UK.
Eileen
www.scram.uk.com
Version FRANCAISE et/and ENGLISH
www.next-up.org/film_3.php
Version DEUTSCHE und/and ENGLISH
www.next-up.org/film_3_de.php
Kind Regards
Eileen O'Connor
Trustee – EM Radiation Research Trust
www.radiationresearch.org
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)