While there is still no evidence that cellphones cause brain tumours, a new study is calling for more research due to heavier usage and changing patterns of use among young people.
The study, co-ordinated by the World Health Organization, will be published in the International Journal of Epidemiology. The project examined the links using data from 13 countries and did not show increased risk of brain cancer from using cellphones.
The study began in 2000 using data from Australia, Canada, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Israel, Italy, Japan, New Zealand, Norway, Sweden and Britain, and focused on specific types of tumours that form in tissue that absorbs the radiofrequency energy from cellphones. It also looked specifically at individuals aged 30 to 59 because they would have used the phones most in the last decade. Researchers interviewed 2,708 patients diagnosed with glioma (cancer of the cells that support nerve cells) and 2,409 with meningioma (tumour of the tissue surrounding the brain and spinal cord).
Overall, researchers found the odds of a regular mobile phone user developing either cancer was actually statistically lower when compared to individuals with either cancer who had never used one. There were no higher risks observed in people who had used the phones for 10 years or more.
While the research did show that individuals who made the 10 per cent most calls in cumulative talk time had an elevated risk for either cancer, the researchers stated they were skeptical because the group would have spent roughly 51,640 hours talking on its phones.
The researchers subsequently stated that the effects of long-term heavy use require more research.
New research out of Australia suggests individuals with asthma might suffer airway inflammation and suppressed medication benefits after eating meals high in fat and energy.
The findings — which have not yet been validated by any other study — were presented at the American Thoracic Society 2010 International Conference in New Orleans last week.
Researchers monitored asthma patients after they ate either low- or high-fat meals. They found that patients who ate high-fat meals showed airway inflammation within hours of the meal, which was not observed in those who ate low-fat meals.
The high-fat meals also “impaired” the effects of albuterol, also known as Ventolin, the rescue inhaler commonly prescribed to individuals with asthma.
Forty patients with asthma were divided into two groups and fed either a burger and hashbrowns (50 per cent fat, 1,000 calories) or reduced-fat yogurt (13 per cent fat, 200 calories). Sputum samples, which contained mucus from the lungs, were taken before and after each meal.
The study authors said the effect of high-fat meals on albuterol was unexpected and more research into the biology of how high-fat meals affect the response to medication is necessary.
Researchers at the University of Duisburg-Essen in Germany have found that individuals who live in urban areas with high levels of particulate air pollution have higher blood pressure compared to people living in less polluted areas.
Using data from the Heinz Nixdorf study, which examines the development of heart disease, the team analyzed the effects of pollution on blood pressure for three years (2000 to 2003).
The study used devices that monitored both blood pressure and duration of exposure to air pollution. After analyzing its data, the research team found that average arterial blood pressure rose with increased exposure to fine particulate matter, most of which comes from traffic, industry and heating. The same effect was observed with coarse particulate matter — “earth crust material” and pollution from roads. Even when controlling for age, illness, gender and smoking, the effect was prominent.
High blood pressure leads to atherosclerosis — hardening of the arteries, which in turn leads to heart attacks and strokes.
The team’s next step is to study the progression of atherosclerosis in individuals who live in highly polluted areas.
A new study out of Germany shows that women who marry younger men do not live as long, but the effect is reversed if men marry younger women.
Published in the journal Demography, researchers found that women who married a partner seven to nine years younger increased their mortality risk by 20 per cent. It is also doubtful that older wives benefit psychologically and socially from a younger husband. This effect only seems to work for men.
This means that women don’t benefit by having a younger partner, but why does he shorten their lives? “One of the few possible explanations is that couples with younger husbands violate social norms and thus suffer from social sanctions,” says author Sven Drefahl. Since marrying a younger husband deviates from what is regarded as normal, these couples could be regarded as outsiders and receive less social support. This could result in a less joyful and more stressful life, reduced health, and finally, increased mortality.
However, being married raises the life expectancy of both men and women compared to those that do not marry. Women are also generally better off than men — worldwide, their life expectancy exceeds that of men by a few years.
