Issue link: http://cp.revolio.com/i/738189
and temperatures as high as 6 degrees higher in the hotspots, which refutes this assumption. It is on this fact that most safety claims are hinged. However, RF appears to be able to cause damage in other ways. In a recent Scientific American interview, Jerry Phillips, Ph.D., a biochemist and Director of the Excel Science Center at the University of Colorado explained how living cells react to RF radiation: "The signal couples with those cells, although nobody really knows what the nature of that coupling is. Some effects of that reaction can be things like movement of calcium across membranes, the production of free radicals or a change in the expression of genes in the cell. Suddenly important proteins are being expressed at times and places and in amounts that they shouldn't be, and that has a dramatic effect on the function of the cells. And some of these changes are consistent with what's seen when cells undergo conversion from normal to malignant." When you consider the fact that your body is bioelectric, it's easier to understand how and why biological damage from wireless phones might occur. For starters, your body uses electrons to communicate, and inside every cell are mitochondria, the power plants of the cell, and these mitochondria can be adversely impacted by electromagnetic fields, resulting in cellular dysfunction. Other mechanisms of harm have also been discovered in recent years. Electromagnetic Fields Can Damage Cells and DNA Via Cellular Stress Responses Research by Martin Blank, Ph.D., a Special Lecturer and retired Associate Professor at Columbia University in the Department of Physiology and Cellular Biophysics and former president of the Bioelectromagnetics Society, explains that electromagnetic fields (EMF) damage your cells and DNA by inducing a cellular stress response. He gave an informative speech at the November 18, 2010 Commonwealth Club of California program, "The Health Effects of Electromagnetic Fields," co- sponsored by ElectromagneticHealth.org. According to Blank, the coiled structure of DNA is very vulnerable to electromagnetic fields. It possesses the same structural characteristics of a fractal antenna (electronic conduction and self-symmetry), and these two properties allow for greater reactivity of DNA to EMF than other tissues. Moreover, no heat is required for this DNA damage to occur. Blank believes the potential harm of wireless technologies can be significant, and that there's plenty of peer-reviewed research to back up such suspicions. For example, a 2009 review of 11 long- term epidemiologic studies revealed using a cell phone for 10 years or longer doubles your risk of being diagnosed with a brain tumor on the same side of the head where the cell phone is typically held. Thousands of studies showing biological effects from low-intensity EMF were also synthesized and summarized in the BioInitiative Report (2007 and 2012), including immune system effects, neurological effects, cognitive effects and much more. Another important study, funded by the U.S. government, was published in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) in 2011. Using a positron emission tomography or PET scan capable of detecting alterations in glucose, the researchers determined that cell phone radiation triggers your brain cells to metabolize glucose at an increased rate. Glucose metabolism equates to cell activation, so the findings indicate that radiation from your cell phone has a well-defined measurable influence on your brain. Essentially, each time you put a cell phone up to your ear, you're artificially activating your brain cells. That said, it's still unclear whether this excess glucose production is directly harmful, or can cause a cascade of problems down the line, but there is no question there are biological effects from the radiation. 1 in 4 Car Accidents Caused by Cell Phones It's not just the RF (radio frequency) that makes cell phones dangerous. They also play a significant role in car accidents caused by distracted drivers, which took the life of nearly 3,330 people in 2012 and injured 421,000. Last year, the National Safety Council (NSC) reported that cell phone use is responsible for 26 percent of all car accidents in the U.S. Surprisingly, only 5 percent were related specifically to texting, suggesting talking on the phone is just as risky, if not more. Among teen drivers, the influence of cell phones on accident rates is much higher however. According to a recent Abby's Magazine - Volume 4 Issue 5 | Page 51