No Abstract Available.
PMID: 25478802
Electrohypersensitivity (EHS) is a syndrome that consists of some combination of excessive fatigue, headache, weakness, memory impairment, tinnitus, dizziness, irritability, sleep disturbances, loss of appetite, and a general feeling of ill health that occurs in some individuals and is attributed to exposure to electromagnetic fields (EMFs), most commonly to radiofrequency (RF) EMFs. There has been considerable doubt that the syndrome is real because a number of laboratory studies done with individuals who report they suffer from EHS have concluded that such individuals are unable to distinguish when fields were or were not applied under controlled conditions.1,2 However, Rea et al3 reported that some but not all persons who reported themselves to be electrosensitive reacted to exposure but not to sham. McCarty et al4 reported that a physician suffering from EHS reported headaches, muscle twitching, and skipped heartbeats occurring in the presence of a 60-Hz field in a statistically significant manner more often than in a sham control. The World Health Organization5 has acknowledged that a significant number of individuals report such symptoms but questions whether they are indeed caused by EMF exposure. Indeed, most medical personnel when seeing a patient with the symptoms of EHS will refer them to psychological or psychiatric care. Despite this skepticism, there are increasing reports of the incidence of EHS and of individuals with severe disabilities caused by the ubiquitous presence of cell phones, cell towers, WiFi, smart meters, radio and television transmission towers, and other forms of RF radiation.
Questions about the existence of EHS go back to the days of the Cold War and differing concepts related to the effects of RF radiation. In most Western countries, it has been assumed that there are no biological effects of EMFs other than those mediated via tissue heating. In contrast, in Soviet countries, there were many early reports of behavioral effects occurring at much lower intensities than those that cause tissue heating. The symptoms reported included headache, fatigue, difficulty in concentration, depression, emotional instability, and irritability (reviewed by Silverman6). Soviet exposure standards were much more stringent than those in Western countries. Although the reported effects and low exposure standards were discounted by most Western scientists, some researchers such as Frey7—as early as 1965—concluded from his own and other studies that there were nonthermal effects, particularly on nervous tissue and heart muscle, that could be observed at very low intensities. Important factors were peak power density, carrier frequency, and modulation.8
keywords polllution electrosmog electropollution hypersensitivity
