A retired physician describes wireless intolerance, cites research and proposed mechanisms, argues for ca…

Living with an intolerance to wireless technology (including the author) (*) An increasing number of people live with the difficulties incurred by intolerance to the radiofrequency electromagnetic fields (RF EMF) generated by wireless technology. This ubiquitous ‘Electrosmog’ surrounds us all on a daily basis. EMF expert Dr. Magda Havas estimates that 35% of the population now struggles with symptoms related to exposure to radiofrequency microwaves from wireless devices, such as wi-fi, smartphones, tablets, smartmeters, and mobile phone masts, with 3-10% of people being “hypersensitive” – termed Electrical Hypersensitivity, EHS. Symptoms include: fatigue, headache, insomnia, irritability, lack of concentration (brainfog), cardiac arrhythmias, tinnitus, low mood and other physical and neuropsychiatric effects (1). Historically, it was thought to be a type of Microwave Sickness (2). In addition to tinnitus, there can be unilateral, high frequency hearing loss on the side of mobile phone use (3). Mechanisms include effects on the blood and autonomic nervous system leading to enhanced sympathetic response and downgraded parasympathetic response (ie. ‘fight or flight’) (4) (5). The WHO radioprotection programme multi-national study on the effects of radiofrequency electromagnetic field exposure on cancer in laboratory animals revealed a high certainty of evidence for gliomas, malignant heart schwannomas, and moderate for lung carcinomas, phaeochromocytomas and hepatoblastomas (6). The WHO’s International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) designated EMFs a Class IIB carcinogen in 2011, but, following further evaluation, there is now sufficient evidence to reclassify it as a Class I carcinogen – ie similar to tobacco and asbestos (7). Although there exists an ICD-10 code (W90) for exposure to non-ionising radiofrequency radiation, the medical profession often appears unwilling to consider this as a possible environmental trigger for illness in their patients (8). One helpful clue is that patients have sometimes noted that their symptoms are associated with EMF exposure (eg using a mobile phone). They then feel well when away from the device but feel ill again on re-exposure (9), Sometimes EHS sufferers are not taken seriously and there have been cases where the patient has been sectioned under the Mental Health Act for describing such an attribution of their symptoms (10). One might wonder whether irrational acts such as driving into crowds of pedestrians might be influenced by driver irritability from exposure to high levels of in-vehicle wireless technology (11). Whilst not universally medically recognised, EHS is a real, biological phenomenon, not a nocebo reaction. And as doctors we all remember the misclassification of CFS/ME as “all in the head”. Intolerance to RF EMFs occurs not only in radiofrequency radiation workers and the military, but also the general public, who are increasingly surrounded by pulsed, polarised electromagnetic radiation at work, school and home (12). Indeed, the Swedish government has funded shielding in hospitals for patients so affected (13). Let us hope that medical profession is now willing to educate itself on this topic so as to be better able to serve patients. Since ample, good science is available (14) (15), there is no longer any excuse to passively accept the platitudes of the communications industry based on outdated, thermal standards. (1)https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0891061815000599?via%...) (2) https://academic.oup.com/occmed/article-abstract/51/1/66/1422266?redirec... (3) https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC3918279/ (4) https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/24192494/ (5)https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S019701861830634X?... (6)https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0160412025002338 (7)https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/30196934/ (8) https://icd.who.int/browse10/2019/en#/W85-W99 (9) https://www.onedaymd.com/2023/07/the-unsettling-rise-of-microwave.html (10) Personal communication (11) https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/live/cn5xnlkegz0t (12) https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/17178584/ (13) https://www.eiwellspring.org/ehs/HospitalAccommodationsOfEHSPatientsInSw... (14) https://bioinitiative.org/research-summaries/ (15) https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC7139347/ (*) https://www.bmj.com/content/390/bmj.r1288/rr-1 Dr Janet Menage M.A. M.B. Ch.B. GP (retired), Wales, UK