Thursday, July 28, 2011

Cell Phone Use vs Brain Function Part 3

Following medical literature reminds me of watching a (table) tennis game, turning our heads back & forth as we watch the competitors fight it out. Initially, cell phones got a free past with regards to a possible link to cancer. Just over a month ago, a very weak link emerged. In a study published yesterday in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute, authors analyzed data from close to 1,000 Western European children and found no link between cell phone use and (brain) cancer risk. The good news is that we can now take a deep collective breath and sigh with relief over our children. The bad news is that this study analyzed data only from students who'd used cell phones for 5 years and hadn't really allowed enough time for slower growing cancers to manifest themselves. So what are we to do? As I mentioned in Part 2, keep the phone away from (your) their faces. This is easier if they text more than they talk. But consider making your children use an earpiece or headset when calling from the phone in order to increase distance and minimize any conceivable damage from radiation. While this is definitely not the definitive and final answer regarding cell phone use, we can certainly feel more comfortable about allowing our children to use this ubiquitous technology. Reporting live from Atlanta, this is Alvin B. Lin.

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