Yet another doctor claims mobiles fry your brainsSnap crackle and popBy Sylvie Barak: Tuesday, 01 April 2008, 1:32 PMA NEW STUDY CLAIMS that mobile phones really do fry people’s brains and that the industry should act immediately to prevent a catastrophic rise in fatal tumours caused by cell phone radiation.The study, written by leading neurosurgeon Dr Vini Khurana, says that mobiles could end up being more deadly than smoking or asbestos, and that people should avoid using them if they can possibly help it. He also suggested that the cell phone industry take "immediate steps" to reduce exposure to radiation emitted by the devices.This is not the first time that studies have warned against the brain frazzling effects of mobile phones, nor the links between wireless airwaves and malignant lumps of tumours growing out of people’s ears, but it is thought that Dr Khurana’s report is one of the most damning to date, with regards to the blatant health risks he clearly lays out.Professor Khurana’s study is a review of over 100 research papers on the effects of mobile phones. He has posted his findings on a brain surgery website, and his study is currently being reviewed for publication.The report points to increasing proof that using a cellular phone for ten years or more can double the risk of contracting some forms of brain cancer, especially tumours such as vestibular schwannoma (acoustic neuroma) and astrocytoma.Also, since cancers take about a decade to materialise, previous safety assurances and guarantees offered by the mobile companies are irrelevant. An estimated three billion people use mobile phones globally, which is three times the number of smokers in the world. Smoking is already attributed to five million deaths a year and Dr Khurana reckons that the impact of mobile phones will be even more devastating, saying “the incidence of malignant brain tumours and associated death rate will be observed to rise globally within a decade from now, by which time it may be far too late to intervene medically”.The mobile phone industry, headed up by the Mobile Operators Association, have rubbished Khurana's study as "a selective discussion of scientific literature by one individual". The industry is still sticking to its mantra that there is no proven link between mobile phone use and cancer and says that Khurana's research reaches opposite conclusions to the WHO and more than 30 other independent expert scientific reviews".Europeans seem to be taking the subject seriously, however, with France and Germany asking their citizens to exercise caution with the amount of time they spend with a phone glued to their ears and the European Environment Agency calling on phone companies to make strides to reduce exposure to dangerous radiation.
