Mobile phone radiation wrecks your sleep

[Guest guest]

Mobile phone radiation wrecks your sleep

Phone makers' own scientists discover that bedtime use can lead to headaches,

confusion and depression

By Geoffrey Lean, Environment Editor

Published: 20 January 2008

http://news.independent.co.uk/sci_tech/article3353768.ece

Radiation from mobile phones delays and reduces sleep, and causes headaches and

confusion, according to a new study.

The research, sponsored by the mobile phone companies themselves, shows that

using the handsets before bed causes people to take longer to reach the deeper

stages of sleep and to spend less time in them, interfering with the body's

ability to repair damage suffered during the day.

The findings are especially alarming for children and teenagers, most of whom -

surveys suggest - use their phones late at night and who especially need sleep.

Their failure to get enough can lead to mood and personality changes, ADHD-like

symptoms, depression, lack of concentration and poor academic performance.

The study - carried out by scientists from the blue-chip Karolinska Institute

and Uppsala University in Sweden and from Wayne State University in Michigan,

USA - is thought to be the most comprehensive of its kind.

Published by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology's Progress in

Electromagnetics Research Symposium and funded by the Mobile Manufacturers

Forum, representing the main handset companies, it has caused serious concern

among top sleep experts, one of whom said that there was now " more than

sufficient evidence " to show that the radiation " affects deep sleep " .

The scientists studied 35 men and 36 women aged between 18 and 45. Some were

exposed to radiation that exactly mimicked what is received when using mobile

phones; others were placed in precisely the same conditions, but given only

" sham " exposure, receiving no radiation at all.

The people who had received the radiation took longer to enter the first of the

deeper stages of sleep, and spent less time in the deepest one. The scientists

concluded: " The study indicates that during laboratory exposure to 884 MHz

wireless signals components of sleep believed to be important for recovery from

daily wear and tear are adversely affected. "

The embarrassed Mobile Manufacturers Forum played down the results, insisting -

at apparent variance with this published conclusion - that its " results were

inconclusive " and that " the researchers did not claim that exposure caused sleep

disturbance " .

But Professor Bengt Arnetz, who led the study, says: " We did find an effect from

mobile phones from exposure scenarios that were realistic. This suggests that

they have measurable effects on the brain. "

He believes that the radiation may activate the brain's stress system, " making

people more alert and more focused, and decreasing their ability to wind down

and fall asleep " .

About half of the people studied believed themselves to be " electrosensitive " ,

reporting symptoms such as headaches and impaired cognitive function from mobile

phone use. But they proved to be unable to tell if they had been exposed to the

radiation in the test.

This strengthens the conclusion of the study, as it disposes of any suggestion

that knowledge of exposure influenced sleeping patterns. Even more

significantly, it throws into doubt the relevance of studies the industry relies

on to maintain that the radiation has no measurable effects.

A series of them - most notably a recent highly publicised study at Essex

University - have similarly found that people claiming to be electrosensitive

could not distinguish when the radiation was turned on in laboratory conditions,

suggesting that they were not affected.

Critics have attacked the studies' methodology, but the new findings deal them a

serious blow. For they show that the radiation did have an effect, even though

people could not tell when they were exposed.

It also complements other recent research. A massive study, following 1,656

Belgian teenagers for a year, found most of them used their phones after going

to bed. It concluded that those who did this once a week were more than three

times - and those who used them more often more than five times - as likely to

be " very tired " .

Dr Idzikowski, the director of the Edinburgh Sleep Centre, says: " There is

now more than sufficient evidence, from a large number of reputable

investigators who are finding that mobile phone exposure an hour before sleep

adversely affects deep sleep. "

Dr Kohler of the Florida Sleep Institute added: " Anything that disrupts

the integrity of your sleep will potentially have adverse consequences in

functioning during the day, such as grouchiness, difficulty concentrating, and

in children hyperactivity and behaviour problems. "

Schick, the chief executive of Exradia, which manufactures protective

devices against the radiation, called on ministers to conduct " a formal public

inquiry " into the effects of mobile phones.