A new study suggests that people using mobile phones for more than 25 years triple their risks of developing a certain type of brain cancer.
The link between mobile phone use and cancer risk has been a subject of debates for many years. Several studies were launched, and each yielded different results that often contradict one another.
Even the World Health Organization settled that there is no strong evidence that establishes the relationship between the two. Now, a new Swedish study claims that long-term mobile phone use can increase one's risk to brain cancer by as much as 300 percent, according to Reuters Health.
Study leader Dr. Lennart Hardell worked with his colleagues from the University Hospital in Orebro, Sweden, and compared the brains of 1,380 patients diagnosed with malignant brain tumors to those who did not have any condition. Researchers also factored in mobile phone use to see if there was a direct correlation.
The findings revealed that those who used mobile phones for 20 to 25 years, or more than 1,486 hours, doubled their risk of developing glioma compared to those who used the devices for less than a year, or only up to 122 hours. Glioma is a common type of tumor that starts in the brain or spine.
Using mobile phones for more than 25 years, on the other hand, triples one's risk of developing a malignant brain tumor.
"The risk is three times higher after 25 years of use. We can see this clearly," Dr. Hardell told Reuters Health in a telephone interview.
Researchers clarified that their study focused only on the link between glioma and mobile phone use. They also failed to explain how the use of mobile devices led to the development of the tumors, although Hardell assumes that it might be due to the wireless phone emissions. Those who sleep with their phones near their heads are at risk.
Further details of the study can be read on the journal of Pathophysiology.
