No Link Found Between Cell Phone Usage And Brain Tumors

The debate over whether or not cell phone usage causes brain tumors has been a subject of continuing debate for decades. However, new research shows that no danger lurks in the highly popular form of mobile communication.

Isabelle Deltour of the Institute of Cancer Epidemiology at the Danish Cancer Society in Copenhagen, and her colleagues, conducted an analysis spanning three decades of incidents of brain tumors in Scandinavia, and found no significant change in occurrence. Even the advent of widespread use of the cell marked no substantial increase in brain tumor incidents. The study serves as confirmation to previous evidence suggesting that cell phone usage is not linked to brain tumors. The full report on the study can be found in the online edition of the Journal of the National Cancer Institute.

According to Deltour, “If mobile phones were to cause brain tumors we would expect to see a sudden rise in the number of brain tumors at some point in time, and we don't see it.” However, Deltour acknowledged that the possibility of establishing a link in the future exists by stating, “Either it means that mobile phones don't cause brain tumors, or it means that we don't see it yet, or we don't see it because the increase is too small to be observed in this population, or it is a risk that is limited to a small subgroup of the population.” She noted that her research team would continue monitoring the rate of brain tumors among the study group.

For the analysis, the researchers collected and analyzed national registry data on 59,984 people aged 20 to 79 who had been diagnosed with glioma and meningioma between years 1974 and 2003. Countries included in the analysis were Denmark, Finland, Norway and Sweden. Results revealed that the incidence of brain tumors during the 30-year study period gradually increased, decreased or remained stable before and after cell phones gained popularity. In addition, no change in the incidence of brain tumors was observed between the years 1998 and 2003, a period during which cell phone usage became all the rage.

Deltour noted, “The Nordic countries are a good model for studying the association” due to their thorough medical records and the fact that all four of the Scandinavian countries in the study have had a mobile phone network since 1981. The service was not launched in the U.S. until 1983.

The researchers maintain that if cell phones posed a significant threat for the development of brain tumors after five to 10 years of use, it would be reflected in the 1998 to 2003 Scandinavian incidence rates. In their report, they wrote that the lack of any significant increase observed in the registry data, “is consistent with mobile phone use having no observable effect on brain tumor incidence in this period.”

In regards to the increases that were noted in brain cancer rates, Deltour and colleagues said that findings likely reflect the rise in diagnoses obtained through the use of new imaging technologies such as computed tomography in the 1970s, and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) in the 1980s. Moreover, most of the increases in diagnoses occurred among women aged 60 and older, which is the age group least likely to participate in frequent cell phone use.

source: healthnews