Issues on a Cellular Level

Cell phones are all around us these days. The mobile communication market is constantly expanding, and for many people it’s hard to imagine functioning normally without their handheld devices. In this age of constant and increasing wireless activity, some have to wonder what kind of effect this is having on the human body. The consequences of frequent radio-wave exposure have been speculated upon for quite some time, but a recent study provides the first piece of proof that cellphone use significantly alters brain function. A few average people on the street had some opinions on these recent developments.

Dispelling Old Rumors
This new research, led by Dr. Nora D. Volkow, director of the National Institute on Drug Abuse, shows that an active cellphone can increase brain activity by 7 percent in the area closest to the antenna. This study is also the first solid evidence that mobile phones actually affect bodily functions. This news came as a surprise to many cell phone using citizens.

“I always thought it was common knowledge that phones gave you cancer,” said Beatrice Winslow, a student at Denver University. “I’ve been hearing about cellphone radiation since the late ‘90s.” Despite thinking mobiles have always been deadly, Winslow was on the phone right before she gave her insights and started texting immediately after.

“I know it seems kind of hypocritical, but we have known that cigarettes absolutely cause cancer and people have been using those for a lot longer than cellphones.”

Winslow wasn’t the only one who had been living under false pretenses. James Carrion of Avon, 20, was also certain that cellular health risks were proven.

“My mom wouldn’t let me have a phone when everyone else was getting them. She would tell me, ‘Those things will melt your brain,’” said the bike shop worker. “Since then I’ve always been wary of any portable electronic.”

With this new information shedding light on what so many believed to be established fact, now one has to wonder what the new implications of this study will be.

In Light of Recent Developments

“But ‘increased brain activity’ doesn’t automatically sound that bad,” Carrion commented on the new study. “It could be making us smarter or better at multitasking or just give us super reverse cancer like in Phenomenon.”

It is true that these results are somewhat inconclusive. The end results of radio wave effects are still unknown, but some people have come to their own conclusions.

“Well it’s probably not going to make anything better,” said Shea Wilson while she was skiing in Beaver Creek. “But it’s all been around so long you think we would have seen some adverse effects by now.” Wilson believes that phones definitely change the body somehow, but as long as she stays in the mountains there won’t be too many problems.

Some mobile phone veterans aren’t as optimistic. Brian Bellstein has been using cell phones since they first went mainstream in the late ‘70s and now has an iPhone 4. “I’ve seen every type of phone there is and none of them seem safe. I understand they’re necessary, heck I couldn’t live without mine, but when there’s that much radiation in our atmosphere and near our heads all the time, it has to be detrimental to our health.”

Bellstein started using the earbud/microphone setup a couple years ago. Initially just for the hands free capability, “but also it’s nice to keep this thing away from my brain whenever possible.”

Whatever the future of mobile technology is, it will always be in high demand and will always affect humans in one way or another.