Mobile phones can ruin your sleep
p2pnet news | Mobiles:- Do you make mobile phone calls just before you go to bed? And are you having trouble sleeping?
‘Radiation’ from calls made just before you nod off can cause insomnia, headaches and confusion, says a study, put together by Sweden’s Karolinska Institute and Wayne State University in the US.
The scientists studied 35 men and 36 women aged between 18 and 45, says the BBC, and going on:
“Some were exposed to radiation equivalent to that received when using a mobile phone, others were placed in the same conditions, but given only “sham” exposure.
“Those exposed to radiation took longer to enter the first of the deeper stages of sleep, and spent less time in the deepest one.
Professor Bengt Arnetz (right) is quoted as saying the study, “strongly suggests that mobile phone use is associated with specific changes in the areas of the brain responsible for activating and coordinating the stress system”.
During laboratory exposure to 884 MHz wireless signals, “components of sleep believed to be important for recovery from daily wear and tear are adversely affected,” the BBC courts, the study as saying.
Published by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s Progress in Electromagnetics Research Symposium and funded by the Mobile Manufacturers Forum, representing the main handset companies, the study has, “caused serious concern among top sleep experts, one of whom said that there was now ‘more than sufficient evidence’ to show that the radiation ‘affects deep sleep’,” says the Independent, going on:
The embarrassed Mobile Manufacturers Forum played down the results, insisting – at apparent variance with this published conclusion – that its “results were inconclusive” and that “the researchers did not claim that exposure caused sleep disturbance”.
But Professor Bengt Arnetz, who led the study, says: “We did find an effect from mobile phones from exposure scenarios that were realistic. This suggests that they have measurable effects on the brain.”
He believes that the radiation may activate the brain’s stress system, “making people more alert and more focused, and decreasing their ability to wind down and fall asleep”.
Two other experts backed the findings up, says the story, adding:
“Dr Chris Idzikowski, the director of the Edinburgh Sleep Centre, says: ‘There is now more than sufficient evidence, from a large number of reputable investigators who are finding that mobile phone exposure an hour before sleep adversely affects deep sleep’.
“Dr William Kohler of the Florida Sleep Institute added: ‘Anything that disrupts the integrity of your sleep will potentially have adverse consequences in functioning during the day, such as grouchiness, difficulty concentrating, and in children hyperactivity and behaviour problems’.”
Also See:-
BBC – Mobiles linked to disturbed sleep, January 21, 2008
Independent – Mobile phone radiation wrecks your sleep, January 22, 2008
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