EDITORIAL – Time will tell if cell phones cause cancer

Most studies claim that there is no substantial evidence supporting that incessant cell phone… Most studies claim that there is no substantial evidence supporting that incessant cell phone usage causes cancer. However, there hasn’t been a study adequate enough to measure the long-term risks of cell phone usage.

A study conducted by the Institute of Cancer Research in London concluded that there was no correlation between the total number of calls on one’s cell phone, the total hours of use, or the number of years one had used his or her cell phone and acoustic neuroma, the brain cancer in question.

Otherwise known as benign tumors, acoustic neuromas are usually located in the same region of the brain where people usually place their cell phones when talking on the phone.

Thus, the study compared a group of 678 people who have developed acoustic neuromas with 3,553 without them over a span of 10 years. The study was performed in Britain and several other European countries that had a high rate of cell phone usage.

A study conducted last May suggested that people who live in rural communities are three times more likely to get brain tumors than those who live in the city. However, that was then rejected by another study released last year that measured 427 people with tumors. While the study found that there was no real evidence to support such a claim, more research must be done.

There has not been any study published that considers the effects of headsets, compares older model cell phones with the latest digital versions or measures the span of cell phone use for longer than 10 years. For this reason, several studies that have been done mention that after 10 years of cell phone use, problems could emerge and again, further research is needed.

The science community isn’t dragging its feet. Cell phones are simply too recent a phenomenon to render significant test studies. The only thing that will enable us to determine whether cell phones are safe enough is time.

Meanwhile, several studies recommend that children 8 years of age and below should not be allowed to use cell phones. However, this becomes difficult when phone companies are endorsing phones as trendy as Tamagatchi toys for kids, such as the five-button firefly that would be set up to call home and emergency numbers.

While cell phones have always been lauded for safety purposes, it seems that cell phones for kids may be another issue all together. One thing, however, is evident in this recent cell phone scare. For once people are being straightforward about something they do not know instead of serving up statistics on a platter to appease people.

According to American Cancer Society, more than 1,500 people die each day from cancer. For this reason, it isn’t completely crazy that we are so desperate to link something to a disease that kills so many loved ones each year. But in the same way we don’t completely understand how cancer works, we don’t really understand how cell phones can be linked to cancer.

While we are thankful that these scientists debunked the myth about cell phones, as with all things with technology and medicine, we wait in anticipation for what will be next.