Are People Affected by Non-Ionising Radiation?

Modern living can have it’s drawbacks as well as it’s advantages, nobody died in plane crashes 500 years ago. Some of the disadvantages come as a direct result of our increase in scientific and technological knowledge, there would be no antibiotic resistant bacteria without antibiotics. Some people worry about ever more subtle forms of danger in the modern world, there are those who classify themselves as “Electrosensitive”. Electrosensitives consider the electromagnetic fields produced by electronic products such as computers, cell phones, T.V.s, well almost everything these days, to be harmful in general and to affect them in particular in a variety of ways. Symptoms may include but not be limited to: headache, fatigue, tinnitus, dizziness, memory deficits and irregular heart beat, in fact there are lists including over thirty symptoms ranging from asthma to epilepsy and Alzheimer’s.

Earlier this year researchers at the University of Regensburg conducted a study of self identified electrosensitive sufferers comparing their reactions to non-sufferers when exposed to a heat-emitting thermode and a cell phone. The sufferers experienced discomfort from both stimuli where as non-sufferers only experienced discomfort from the thermode. This was backed up by brain scans of the subjects which indicated that the pain experienced was real. Unfortunately the phone used in the experiment was fake, there were no electromagnetic fields being produced. The sufferers were not making up the pain they felt, it was real to them, but in the same way that a placebo treatment can (allegedly*) make people feel better it appears that the anticipation of pain by the sufferers lead them to feel it, in a sort of nocebo response to the sham phone.

It seems that while these electrosensitive people are not merely attention seeking, as the discomfort they feel is undoubtedly real, neither are they suffering from a disability brought on by exposure to fields that are generally considered harmless. What’s going on here? I have no idea but I’ll be interested to see how further research sheds light on this.

Resources

http://www.sciam.com/podcast/episode.cfm?id=cell-phones-sometimes-cause-real-pa-08-10-13

http://www.sciencedirect.com/science?_ob=ArticleURL&_udi=B6WNP-4SB7TW1-4&_user=10&_rdoc=1&_fmt=&_orig=search&_sort=d&view=c&_version=1&_urlVersion=0&_userid=10&md5=993618adacb00f6dc3c58a70d580feb2

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electrical_sensitivity

http://www.electrosensitivity.org/

* It’s complicated, it could be that what we refer to as a placebo response doesn’t actually exist and is really a mislabelling of other factors that have nothing to do with response to treatment. Who knows.

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3 Comments

  1. I’ve suffered from this problem since the early 90’s when I first started using computers. It was a long time until I realized that it was the computer that was really getting to me. I’d be tired, spacey and have headaches. I’ve been wearing a BioElectric Shield since ‘94 and find it to be invaluable…if I forget it, I’m exhausted and irritable. And no it’s not psychological because I sometimes forget it and don’t even know it, and just feel horrible. Here’s just one of the really good articles on the subject that pulls together a lot of information from different studies and arenas. http://www.bioelectricshield.com/In-the-Media/Electromagnetic-Sensitivity-Millions-Affected-by-the-Mysterious-Symptoms-of-a-Silent-Epidemic.htm
    I really feel that this issue is going to finally be acknowledged only when millions are dying and the finally can’t rule out anything else. Do we have to wait that long?

  2. Thank you for your comment. I’m afraid the link you provided does not work, I’ll see If I can find my own way to the info later although I find the fact that it is provided by a company with a vested interest in selling the protection a little suspicious.

    Do you not find the fact that there was a real physiological response in the absence of electromagnetic stimulation interesting? If the wrong factor has been implicated in this syndrome isn’t this information that would be useful in providing relief for sufferers?

    • I just read the info at the link provided, there is no solid information there that I could find. I especially liked the list of symptoms:
      Do you have any of these symptoms?

      * Malaise- “general feeling of being unwell”
      * headache
      * Drowsiness
      * Mood swings
      * Tearfulness and eye pain
      * Poor concentration
      * Vertigo
      * Tinnitus
      * Numbness and tingling
      * Nausea
      * Flatulence
      * Convulsions
      * Noise sensitivity
      * Alteration in appetite
      * Visual disturbance
      * Restlessness
      * Changes in respiration
      * Heart rate changes
      * Pupil dilatation
      * Perspiration
      * Muscular weakness
      * Insomnia, or trouble sleeping
      * Irritability
      * Loss of visual acuity (fuzzy vision)
      * Speech difficulties
      * Loss of consciousness
      * Convulsions

      Perspiration?
      The bioshield itself is also not very credible, pulling out the magic Quantum early in the piece. If electromagnetic waves are truly affecting people in the ways claimed then a piece of jewelery is not going to help. Perhaps if they were selling Faraday cage jumpsuits I would be a little more impressed.


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