RISK: Exposure to information-carrying radio waves

Off the Record
By KYRA GOTTESMAN
Article Launched: 03/21/2008 10:41:13 PM PDT

Ch-ch-changes. Life's full of 'em but the odd thing is that you never expect them. Even, as Buddha says, when you know "everything changes, nothing remains without change," it doesn't make any difference. Change ” good or bad ” is always disconcerting.

And while it's rarely possible to alter the winds of change, you can adjust your sails to reach your destination providing, of course, that you know where you're going in the first place and you're the captain of the ship and you know how to sail and no sudden storm blows in and the boat doesn't have any leaks and ... OK, never mind. Let's just leave it as change is tough.

I always feel as if I've undergone a molecular re-arrangement when something changes. Of course this could also be the result of frequent cell phone use.

Researchers are now able to show that molecular changes do take place in your body during exposure to information-carrying radio waves, such as those from your cell phone. (Of course sometimes it's not just the radio waves themselves as it is the actual information they are carrying that does the evil deed: "We regret to inform you that on Tuesday we had to put your dog to sleep and today we had to do the same to your horse." Instant molecular re-arrangement leading to the writing of what is sure to be a classic country-western tune. What else can you do when your horse and dog both die in the same week?)

OK, back to the science.

Apparently British scientists exposed 10 female volunteers to radiation at 900 megahertz from GSM phones to simulate an hour-long phone call. They screened 580 different proteins in their skin cells and found that the amount of two proteins were altered in all of the volunteers: one protein increased by 89 percent, the other decreased by 32 percent.
This study showed that even without heating, molecular level changes take place in response to exposure to cell phone frequency electromagnetic radiation.

So what does all this mean? Well, frankly, I haven't the foggiest idea but it doesn't sound good. Especially when combined with other resent research that indicates exposure to cell phone (or WiFi) information carrying waves can stimulate your cellular receptors causing a whole cascade of pathological consequences.

E-gads! Pathological consequences! Again, can't be good.

Some of these consequences, it's reported, include headaches, fatigue, sleep disruption and short-term memory loss.

Ahhhhhh, that explains it.

And here I thought the headaches were do to regularly clunking my noggin on the saddle rack in the tack room and the fatigue was from doing my daily exercises — what I call my "get ups, stay ups and fall downs." I get up every morning at 5:30 a.m. and stay up all day until I fall down at about 11 p.m.

And I never would have thought to blame my sleep disruption on my cell phone. I always thought it was my bladder calling to wake me up. Shows ya what I know. And short term memory loss ... uh ... What was I talking about?

Oh yeah, ch-ch-changes. It's true that they are never easy but equally as true, they are never permanent. So the best you can do with change is ... Just roll with it, baby.

Oh, and avoid hour-long conversations on your cell phone.