Long-term effects of cell phone use, still unclear

It is a long-standing debate as to whether cell phones can increase the risk of brain tumors.

A new study on cell phone use published in the journal ‘Neurology’ found no link between the use of cellular telephones and brain tumors. But Christoffer Johansen, the lead researcher of the study in a statement, cautioned that the new study covered very few people, who regularly used cell phones for more than 10 years and that further study on the issue was needed and the results were not conclusive.

The study, conducted in Denmark, was published Tuesday (April 12) by the American Academy of Neurology. The study examined 427 Danes suffering from brain cancer and 822 randomly selected Danes without any brain tumors. After comparing the two groups, no link was seen between cell phone use and an increase in brain tumors.

The study found no correlation between the development of brain tumors and how frequently mobile phones were used or the length of use. Nor did the study find any evidence that brain tumors were more likely to occur on the side of the head most used with cell phones.

“These results are in line with other large studies on this question, including a recently published large-scale, population-based study by the Swedish Interphone Study Group,” Johansen said. “There have been a few studies that found an increased risk of brain tumors with cell phone use, but those studies have been criticized for problems with the study design.”

A 2002 study, for instance, found some indication that long-time users of analog cell phones had a greater tendency to develop a specific type of tumor on the side of the head most often used for making calls.

The long-term effects of cell phone use are still unclear as hardly anybody in the study had used a cell phone for a decade or more. ‘In our study, few people reported regular cell phone use for 10 years or more,’ says Johansen concluded in his press release. ‘We won’t be able to make any firm conclusions until we can confirm these results with studies with more long-term and heavy cell phone users.’

It was recommended that cell phone users operate their phones using a hands free device which lowers the amount of radiation entering the brain.

Despite the findings, using a hands-free system for cell phone use will eliminate any dangers, Johansen said.