Friday, September 26, 2008

Cell phones can cause brain cancer by age of 29

Source: http://technology.inquirer.net/infotech/infotech/view/20080926-163031/Scientists-warn-US-solons-of-cancer-risk-for-cell-phone-use


Scientists warn about the possible threat of brain cancer for frequent cell phone users, especially to children ages 5 and below. Ronald Herberman, director of the University of Pittsburgh Cancer Institute, rebuked earlier researches saying that cellphone has no direct link with brain tumors, and said:

"I cannot tell this committee that cell phones are definitely dangerous. But, I certainly cannot tell you that they are safe."

He even compared the cell phone with that of the cigarette and its connection to lung cancer, saying that cell phones should come with 'precautionary messages.'

Besides that, the article said that a paper published in London found out that young adults who started using cell phones below the age of 20 would more likely develop brain cancer by the age of 29.

Well it is expected. With the advancing technological developments and discoveries, it can't be helped that this machines, who emit invisible radioactive and other dangerous substances, can in a way mingle and alter our biological composition, which actually is ironic with their purpose to make lives easier for us humans.

Especially now that these gadgets - computers, cell phones, pda's, laptops - are becoming more of a need than a want, since the standard of living has swiftly shifted to being a modern internet-connected lifestyle. Even my little nephews and nieces who went on a nearby school were given cell phones so that my cousins can track them wherever they go. I mean, who else would want to live their lives out-dated? These things make our lives easier, and by that they may probably making them shorter as well.

If effects of using these cell phones turned out to be this drastic, I can say I am prepared to face it. I lived a 'generation-Y' life, I enjoyed the technology this era has to offer, and if in the future they find a way to solve this problem, then good for them.



18 comments:

myownserendipity said...

a lot of people complain about the effects of this and that. wouldnt it be better to try and come up with a gadget that have no negative effects on both people and the environment?

street_rulez said...

Everything around us may seem to have negative effect on our health. What can we do? This is the advancing of technology nowadays. Using of cellphones before is just a means of communication for businessmen or it is just a "want" by the upper class people. But now, it is totally different. Even children have their cellphones. A "want" has become a "need" already. We do create our needs and cellphone is one.

Personally, I cant imagine my life without a cellphone. Well, a solution i think is getting back to the basic, but this solution may quite be too impossible to happen. Maybe, we just need to face the consequence, but still try our best to get rid of the these.

ParadoxiC said...

@ myownserendipity

I think that's the challenge of our time now.

As you see, developments in the car industry to make these machines run on "eco-friendly" bio fuels and the attempt to decrease emission down to 0% are what the market is going gaga about these days.

5 to 10 years from now, eco-friendly machines/gadgets will be the trend. And that's what we want to happen, to achieve a level of technology that is good to the environment and to our health as well.

karisse said...

Well, I think if that news is true then it certainly is a scary thing. Imagine, you are using your cellphone to keep in touch with other people, enjoying it to the fullest and the next thing you know you have brain cancer.

I think this is really the consequences of our doings. As we enjoy the stuffs created by people, we in turn let some bad effects happen to our body. I think what we should do is to invent some technology that is not harmful, or create some medicines to fight off these bad effects in our body.

blood type O said...

Everything here on earth is practically neutral, meaning that things are neither good nor bad. I have learned this from my high school science teacher. Discussing on technology, he said that it is neither good nor bad and that its effects all depends on how we, humans handle it. We can either use technology for our benefit, or for our own detriment. Example, we use cellphones for convenience especially in communcation. On the other hand, we can also use them for, say, terrorism, you know, triggering bombs. In this case, of course, it's not a good thing.

With regards to cellphones and brain tumors, I don't believe that using cellphones is the only reason that would cause someone to acquire such a disease at the age of 29. Lifestyle and other factors such as pollution in the environment might also have to do something with it.

In the end, the issue on technological advantages and disadvantages will all boil down to our values. If we will use technology with good judgment and moderation, I guess there will be no problem. We will live happier and longer lives. Otherwise, there will be chaos and we might all really be dead before we reach the age of 29. Hope it won't happen.

batmanjr. said...

The bottom line is, nothing's perfect. too much of anything is bad. with great technological advancements comes risk. we could just hope that someone has to find a solution for the technological advancements be not health-risking.

blogbug said...

All of the technological advances we enjoy today seem to cause us a lot of harm, like what this post said, cell phones have radioactive rays that can harm our body and even cause cancer. But as deadly and terrifying as it sounds, I doubt anyone would stop using all these gadgets, I mean, I my self would never give up my cellphone, computer etc. I just can't imagine living with out them.

A new product with out all the health risks would be really helpful, but I don't think they can invent a product that is totally harmless, maybe they can at least decrease the harmful effects.

But one thing is for sure, everyone is willing to take the said health risks because these gadgets are a must these days.

cholo said...

Well.. with all the advancements in technology.. we can't deny the fact that we are somewhat addicted to it. We are super updated with the latest designs and models or units and so we try to purchase them. one of these technologies would be cellphones. we can see a lot of people being snatched and cellphones are somewhat the target of these snatchers. With this, we can easily see how cellphones influence people to buy. Cellphones are everywhere. People tend to buy second hand phones just to have one. It is actually good in a sense that it gives us convenience, but with all the harmful effects that it gives us, we should be careful. We shouldn't be really dependent on these things since we could always have alternatives that are less harmful...

arathilis said...

We hear different versions of this news already and we still have no conclusion whether cellphones are that dangerous to us. It has been very useful to the society and it became impossible to remove. and thus we still don't know what we should do because researches take years before they can prove their hypothesis after years.

On my opinion, we should maximize our use in this technology and ignore the possible effects. Everything comes with a price and it is inevitable. Since cellphones have negative effects but there is a need for them why not just ignore the possibilities and use them. You can't even imagine a life without cellphones after you used one.

takoyaki said...

I think it is a known fact that everything excessive is bad for the health. I think that it’s possible that celphones can cause brain cancer in the long run. However, we cannot just tell people to stop using celphones but we can try and warn them about the excessive use of it. Anything not natural can cause harm in the long run and that is the consequence of technology. I think that our health is the price that we pay for the convenience that we enjoy today unless scientists figure out a way on how to make gadgets health-friendly. But right now we should just be cautious when we use technology and not use it excessively and irresponsibly.

littletwixstar said...

"Cell phones can cause brain cancer by age of 29."

It's like "Drinking soft drinks can increase your sugar level"

or like "Too much internet/t.v. can cause obesity and inactivity"

Everything has side effects, whether good or bad. We humans invented such things, we should at least know the dangers of creating it.

And it shouldn't be much of a surprise either. we've been the pioneers of various inventions that can kill the entire human race.

anonymous said...

I think cellphone usage can harm your health, but it depends where it was made. Someone sent a message that says the serial number of your cellphone shows if its dangerous or not. If the 7th and 8th number is 01 or 10, it is not dangerous and from finland; if 00 its original and very safe.

IF 13, it came from azerbaijan and bad quality and bad for your health.

blogger said...

This article is really interesting, especially in our time when most of us use this cellphones as a basic necessity. I'm really scared about the thought of having such diseases by using my cellphone, but what can I do? I think I really need my cellphone for emergency purposes, and I remember having my first phone when I was still in grade school which means that I'm also a candidate for this brain cancer thing. Well, for me that's life, you can't enjoy everything to its fullest there will always be consequences as you go along.

watermelon said...

There are always advantages/benefits and disadvantages/harms in almost everything when overuse. If cellphone is only used when needed, then i don't think cellphone will be of a harm. Especially in the Philippines, where cellphone is not primarily use in calling but in texting.

mouse said...

Many people might not notice about this happening. The things that we used mostly are existing for fun and convenience. Even if we knew that truth, it is not too easy for them to stop using it. I think that cellphones should not be used always and those children who are young should not use any gadget.

pinkdoodle said...

One cannot have it all. Now i think this is now applicable. Many news recently are saying about the health hazards of the technologies we have today. Like heating food in the microwave oven will also cause cancer. Now, I agree with the saying that technology makes our lives easier but shorter.

trojan said...

Cellphone is a necessity for everyone. Without it, life would be harder. But we should also know the negative effects it brings to our health.

trojan said...

We don't have any choice because cellphone is a necessity for everyone.