CELL PHONES AND BRAIN TUMORS–WHAT TO DO?
BAD ADVICE FROM A GERMAN DOCTOR ABOUT CELL PHONES AND CANCER
By Dr. Diener
Hello, my name is Christoph Diener. I am a neurologist from Germany, and today’s topic is brain tumors and mobile phones.
This is a very tricky business. You all remember headlines in newspapers some time ago when retrospective case-controlled studies suggested that people who use mobile phones a lot have an increased risk for brain tumors.
Well, there are some areas of the world where no one would survive if this really were true — let’s be serious. An interesting paper was published in the British Medical Journal in October. A group from Denmark used a huge cohort of cancer patients identified in a national registry. They looked at people who subscribed to a mobile phone service before the year 1995.
They only considered people over the age of 30, because the risk for brain tumors is much lower in the population under 30 years of age. They compared the risk of developing a brain tumor in people who were subscribers to a mobile phone service and people who were nonsubscribers.
The conclusion of this study, which included 360,000 people and identified more than 10,000 brain tumors, was that clearly no relationship existed between the use of mobile phones and brain tumors. This was true for all kinds of tumors: gliomas and meningiomas. It was also true when considering the duration of using a mobile phone. Whether you had a subscription for 10 years or 1 year, it didn’t make a difference.
In addition, there was no relationship between the location of the brain tumor and the use of mobile phones. Most people use their phone on the right side of the head. So if patients ask you, you can clearly say, “Don’t worry, there is absolutely no risk of developing a brain tumor from using a mobile phone.”
Dr. Pinna says:
Let us look at who the author of this article is:
Hans-Christoph Diener, MD, PhD. Professor and Head of Neurology, Department of Neurology, University Hospital & Essen Headache Center, Essen, Germany
Disclosure: Hans-Christoph Diener, MD, PhD, has disclosed the following relevant financial relationships:
Received honoraria for participation in clinical trials from: Abbott Laboratories; Addex Pharmaceuticals; Allergan, Inc.; Almirall Prodesfarma, S.A.; AstraZeneca Pharmaceuticals LP; Bayer HealthCare Deutschland, Berlin-Chemie; Boehringer Ingelheim Pharmaceuticals, Inc.; Bristol-Myers Squibb Company; CoAxia, Inc.; Coherex Medical, Inc.; CoLucid Pharmaceuticals, Inc., Daiichi Sankyo, Inc.; D-Pharm Ltd.; ev3 Inc.; Fresenius Medical Care; GlaxoSmithKline, Grunenthal; Janssen-Cilag; Knoll Pharmaceutical Company; Eli Lilly and Company; F. Hoffmann-La Roche Ltd; 3M Medica; Medtronic, Inc.; Menarini Group, Minster Pharmaceuticals, MSD Pharma; Mindframe Inc.; Neurocore; Neurobiological Technologies Inc.; Novartis Pharmaceuticals Corporation; Novo Nordisk; Paion AG; Parke-Davis; Johnson & Johnson Pharmaceutical Research & Development, L.L.C.; Pierre Fabre; Pfizer Inc; Schering-Plough Corporation; Schaper & Brummer; sanofi-aventis; St, Jude Medical; SERVIER; Solvay Pharmaceuticals, Inc. ; ThromboGenics, Inc., Inc., Weber & Weber; Wyeth Pharmaceuticals Inc.; Yamanouchi Pharmaceutical Company.
Received contributions to advisory boards or oral presentations from: Abbott Laboratories; Addex Pharmaceuticals; Allergan, Inc.; Almirall Prodesfarma, S.A.; AstraZeneca Pharmaceuticals LP; Bayer HealthCare Deutschland, Berlin-Chemie; Boehringer Ingelheim Pharmaceuticals, Inc.; Bristol-Myers Squibb Company; CoAxia, Inc.; Coherex Medical, Inc.; CoLucid Pharmaceuticals, Inc., Daiichi Sankyo, Inc.; D-Pharm Ltd.; EV3 INC.; Fresenius Medical Care; GlaxoSmithKline, Grunenthal; Janssen-Cilag; Knoll Pharmaceutical Company; Eli Lilly and Company; F. Hoffmann-La Roche Ltd; 3M Medica; Medtronic, Inc.; Menarini Group, Minster Pharmaceuticals, MSD Pharma; Mindframe Inc.; Neurocore; Neurobiological Technologies Inc.; Novo Nordisk; Paion AG; Parke-Davis; Novartis Pharmaceuticals Corporation; Johnson & Johnson Pharmaceutical Research & Development, L.L.C.; Pierre Fabre; Pfizer Inc; Schaper & Brummer; Schering-Plough Corporation; sanofi-aventis; St Jude Medical; SERVIER; Solvay Pharmaceuticals, Inc. ; ThromboGenics, Inc., Inc.; Weber & Weber; Wyeth Pharmaceuticals Inc.; Yamanouchi Pharmaceutical Company.
Received financial support for research projects from: Allergan, Inc.; Almirall Prodesfarma, S.A., AstraZeneca Pharmaceuticals LP; Bayer HealthCare Pharmaceuticals; GlaxoSmithKline; Janssen-Cilag; Pfizer Inc; Boehringer Ingelheim Pharmaceuticals, Inc.; Lundbeck Inc.; Novartis Pharmaceuticals Corporation; sanofi-aventis; SYGNIS Pharma AG; Talecris Biotherapeutics.
Served as editor of: Aktuelle Neurologie; Arzneimitteltherapie; Kopfschmerznews; Stroke News; Treatment Guidelines of the German Neurological Society; Cephalalgia (co-editor).
Served on the editorial board: Lancet Neurology; European Neurology; Cerebrovascular Disorders.
WHO IS DR. DIENER?
He has relationships with every big business in Europe and the U.S.!!!
Would you believe a man whose primary goal is making money by obeying the orders of big business???
I would not!
THERE IS ONE FUNDAMENTAL RULE IN MEDICINE: NEVER SAY “NEVER”!!! KEEP YOUR CELL PHONE AWAY FROM YOUR BRAIN!
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