LONDON (Reuters) - Using a mobile phone does not increase the
risk of developing the most common type of brain tumor, according
to a study on Friday.
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After a four-year survey, scientists at the Institute of Cancer
Research in London and three British universities found no link
between regular, long-term use of cell phones and glioma.
"Overall, we found no raised risk of glioma associated with regular
mobile phone use and no association with time since first use,
lifetime years of use, cumulative hours of use, or number of
calls," said Professor Patricia McKinney, of the University of
Leeds, in a report in the British Medical Journal.
She added that the results were consistent with the findings of
most studies done in the United States and Europe.
Anthony Swerdlow, a co-author of the report, from the Institute of
Cancer Research, said the survey is larger than any of the other
published studies and part of a collaboration involving 13
countries.
During the past two decades, the use of mobile phones has risen
rapidly worldwide but there has been no hard evidence to
substantiate fears that the technology causes health problems
ranging from headaches to brain tumors.
More than 4,000 new cases of brain tumors in Britain and about
20,000 in the United States are diagnosed each year.
Last year, Swedish scientists said mobile phones could pose a
higher health risk to people living in rural areas because they
emit more intense signals in the countryside.
But the researchers on Friday said they did not find any increased
health threats for rural dwellers.
Earlier mobile phones used analog signals which emitted higher
power signals than the later digital models. If there were health
dangers from mobiles phones, they would be more likely to result
from the earlier models but the scientists found no evidence of
it.
They questioned 966 people with glioma brain tumors and 1,716
healthy volunteers about how long they had used mobile phones, the
make and model, how many calls they made and how long the calls
lasted.
McKinney, Swerdlow and scientists from the universities of Leeds,
Manchester and Nottingham said that among cancer sufferers the
tumors were likely to be reported on the side of the head used with
a mobile phone.
But Swerdlow said it could be due to over-reporting of
patients.
"People have a tendency to remember and/or embellish or falsely
remember those things that they think might be relevant," he said
in an interview.
McKinney said there is a lack of convincing and consistent evidence
of any effect of exposure to radiofrequency fields on the risk of
cancer.
"Overall, our findings are consistent with this and with most
studies on mobile phone use," she added.
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dun blame yr phone for your problems. 
