Did you know that some items that you cherish the most could expose you to cancer and other illnesses when you do not use them properly?
Though they were invented to make life easier, their abuse or misuse could pose great danger to our health.
Scientists say that many technological appliances, such as mobile phones, televisions , microwaves, ovens and even refrigerators are powered by electromagnetic radiation which have been known to speed up the development of cancerous cells in the body, hence one should limit one’s exposure to them so they do not degrade vital body cells in the body.
The mobile telephone, according to Consultant Oncologist, (cancer specialist), Dr. Segun Kayode, is the device to watch out for. He says the advent of the mobile phone has been linked to the prevalence of breast, prostate and brain cancer.
Kayode explains that mobile telephones are not just powered by stored energy cells, but also they use electromagnetic radiation and ionising gamma rays, which can alter the genetic makeup of body cells when they are exposed to its rays for a long period.
“The technology of the mobile phone is such that it emits radiation. As the radiation penetrates the body tissue, it causes it to heat up. When the cells are at a temperature that is too high for them naturally, they get denatured and become useless. When there is altering in function, they begin to malfunction.
“Electromagnatic radiation also leads to DNA damage, which is the actual link to cancer. You hold the source of the emission, which is the phone, close to your brain that is why we have linked it with cancer of the brain too and there is evidence to back it up. There are claims that people who have had brain tumours had it in the exact size, shape and position as the shape where they placed their cell phone,” he states.
Doctors note that children and teenagers who use mobile phones are at greatest risk—both for parotid gland tumours and brain tumours—as their thinner skull bones allow for greater penetration of cell phone radiation.
Scientists say the phone’s radiation can enter all the way into their midbrain, where tumours are more deadly. In addition, children’s cells reproduce more quickly, so they are more susceptible to aggressive cell growth. Children also face a far greater lifetime exposure.
Studies by Swedish doctors shows that those who begin using cell phones heavily as teenagers have four to five times higher risk of developing cancer of the brain when compared to adults.
Even the World Health Organisation places the cell phone radiation as class B-carcinogenic. Kayode defines a carcinogenic substance or radiation as anything that has the potential of fostering the production of cancerous cells in the body.
The global body in a report with the International Agency for Research states that cell phones may indeed cause cancer, and classifies radiofrequency electromagnetic fields as carcinogenic and a possible danger to humans.
The classification came in part in response to research conducted by the WHO in collaboration with IAR, which shows that wireless telephones increase the risk of an individual developing cancer of the brain.
The number of cell phone users was estimated to be approximately five billion in 2011 and that number has continued to climb; it is safe to admit that we are already past the point of repairing any possible damage.
However, you need not fear, not everybody that has a mobile telephone will develop cancer. Scientists say that the way in which you use it and where you place it after using it, are the factors that would determine whether one is at risk for the side effects of this technology, which include paralysis.
Men in particular may want to reconsider carrying their cell phones on their belts or in their pocket, in close proximity of their reproductive organs.
In addition, you have a number of other sensitive organs in that general area, including liver, kidneys, colon and bladder—all of which are susceptible to radiation, which causes cancer at the end of the day.
For example, research published in 2009 by two cancer specialists, Dr. Robert Nagourney and Dr. John West, showed evidence that wearing a cell phone on ones hip may weaken an area of your pelvis to cause osteoporosis and paralysis.
The physicians, after measuring the pelvic bone density of 150 men, who regularly carried their cell phones attached to their belts and those, who carried their phones for an average of 15 hours each day, and had used cell phones for an average of six years, found that they had low mineral and bone density.
According to them, the electromagnetic field emission by their cell phones has reduced their pelvic and bone size, which could predispose them to paralysis.
West says, “It is important to realise that as long as your cell phone is on, it emits radiation intermittently, even when you are not actually making a call. So, wearing a cell phone on your hip for 15 hours a day is giving that area of your body nearly continuous radiation exposure which is not good for the body.”
It is not just cancer, previous studies have a found that cell phone radiation can affect men’s sperm count, and the quality and motility of their sperm, and this may be a far greater issue than its effect on the bones around the male pelvic region.
