|
No link found between handset use, brain tumours
|
http://www.100md.com 2006-1-23
xinhuanet |
BEIJING, Jan. 23 (Xinhuanet) -- Using a mobile phone will not increase the risk of brain tumours, a four-year study conducted in the UK has concluded.
The results of the latest study, published in the British Medical Journal, indicate that no matter how long you have used a phone for, or how frequently you make and take calls, your risk of developing a brain tumour remains the same.
The study interviewed 966 people, aged 18 to 69 years, with glioma brain tumours and 1,716 randomly selected healthy individuals. They were all asked about their mobile phone usage, including how long they had used mobile phones, the number and duration of the calls they made, and what make and model of phone they had used. The interviews took place between December 1, 2000 and February 29, 2004.
The researchers, from the Universities of Leeds, Nottingham and Manchester and the Institute of Cancer Research in London, found that those who reported regularly using mobile phones were not at a greater overall risk of developing glioma.
The team also found no link between an increased risk of tumours and using a mobile phone in rural areas - where base-stations are typically further apart, requiring handsets to operate at higher power. Such a link was suggested in a Swedish study published last year.
Past studies have pointed to an increased incidence of tumours on the side of the brain closest to where users hold their phones, and the UK study also observed a "significant excess risk" here. But the researchers say there is currently insufficient evidence to indicate whether the phenomenon is a real effect or may simply be a case of tumour sufferers attributing their cancers to their mobile phone usage.
The researchers also cautioned that, as mobile phones have only been in widespread use for about 10 years, the long-term effects are still unknown. Enditem
(Agencies)
| |
| | |
| . |
|
