The Microwave Factor

Jake Reilly's 'Amish Project:' 90 Days Without a Cell Phone, Email and Social Media

2012-01-30T13:18:00.000-05:00

Jake Reilly's 'Amish Project:' 90 Days Without a Cell Phone, Email and Social Media

College Student Drops Social Media, Reconnects with Romance

By Brad Sylvester | Yahoo! Contributor Network – 16 hrs ago

From October to December, he unplugged from social media, email, texts, and cell phones because he felt that we spend more quality time with gadgets and keyboards than we do with the people we really care about.

During his social experiment, he found that some people he counted among his close friends really weren't that close after all. He also discovered that taking a break from his relationship with social media and really paying attention to the people around him can revive real-life romance.

I spoke with Reilly over the phone this weekend about his 90-day project, what he learned from living without electronic leashes and how it changed his life.

Before we get to the interview, take a few minutes to watch Reilly's video:

You say you spent three months completely cut-off from the virtual world. What steps did you take to do that?

Reilly: I called Verizon and suspended service for my cell phone. I deactivated Facebook. I deactivated Twitter, deactivated Linked-In, deactivated Spotify, and anything where there was a social component. I put up an out-of-office on both of my email accounts, like, "I'm sorry for the inconvenience, but I won't receive this until the end of the year."

Did you ever cheat and check to see what messages came in?

Reilly: I never went back on any of the social stuff. There were a few times when the bank would send me an email verification. My roommates would see me checking something like that, and they'd see me with my hands up to shield my eyes from the bulk of the screen, like a girl would do when she's watching a horror movie that she doesn't want to see. I genuinely didn't want to see what was there, because once you look you've got an urge to read it.

Before what you called "The Amish Project," how much time would you typically spend on social media sites, texting, and so forth every day?

Reilly: It was pretty bad. I was reading every single Tweet and I follow 250 people. Then, I would waste a good hour and a half on Facebook. I was sending more than 1,500 texts a month. I never really counted minutes on the phone, but I wouldn't be surprised if it was 600 to 900.

What about now, has it changed?

Reilly: I mean, I struggle with that because everyone wants to know about it, and wants to know how different it is. It's hard, because I was just going to turn off my phone at first. That was the thing that bothered me most, but I realized that if I turned off the phone, people were just going to email me all the time or send me a million Facebook messages. It's kind of a hard thing, because we're getting to the point where if you're not responding to people's text messages within an hour of when they send them, or within a day for emails, it's just socially unacceptable. It's been hard for me since I've been back. I've been bad with my phone and people are, like, "What the hell? I text messaged you…" So I haven't been up to social standards in terms of responding and people don't really understand that, I guess.

In the opening of your "Going Amish" presentation, you say that you had friends over and realized what was going on. Describe what you noticed and your feelings right at that moment.

Reilly: I live with three guys and we had two of our best friends in visiting from New York City. We only see these guys once a year, maybe every six months. We were at the University of Wisconsin watching a Badgers basketball game or something like that. Every single person had either a laptop or a cell phone. That's just kind of funny to begin with, then, I was like, "What are we all doing?" I asked everyone what they were doing and somebody's playing Words with Friends, somebody's playing Angry Birds, somebody's playing online trivia. Nobody's really doing anything, just sitting quiet. It's like this was what we were all looking forward to and we're just sitting here numbing our minds.

That's the thing that drives me crazy. People go out to dinner with a crowd and everyone's on their phone. I mean, what else are you looking for?

How did you communicate with family, friends and business associates during your "Amish" period?

Reilly: Ha! Not well, to say the least.

Do you have a landline?

Reilly: At first, we didn't, but my mom started freaking out a little bit and we got a landline. For the first three weeks, there was a hospital right next to my apartment. I went into their waiting room where there's a courtesy phone for their patients. I was using that to call people. I had written a little address book with all the important people that I needed to have their phone numbers, but, you know, most people don't answer their phones. Most people just use them to see who called. Then, they'll text you, or they'll call you back when they have time. So, I'd either sit at the hospital waiting for people to call back or I'd go home. I was in and out of this stupid hospital waiting room all the time for the first couple of weeks.

Then, we started to have more fun with it. I started to carry chalk around with me. I ride my bike a lot, so, I'd ride my bike over to people's houses and leave them messages in chalk on their sidewalk. I set up a couple of systems with people where, when they got home, they would put something in the window, like a stuffed dog, or put a pumpkin up on the ledge that meant "Hey, I'm here. Come talk." I started having fun trying to dream up different ways to get people's attention.

Were there people who said, "I'm just not going to participate in this. If you can't answer my texts, I don't need to talk to you."

Reilly: Yeah, I mean, I definitely just lost complete contact with people that normally would have been part of my life. I mean it's also an interesting metric for your life to see who some of your closest friends are, you know, and who's willing to take the time. I started to feel bad for them, too, because it definitely became a nuisance, but, yeah, it definitely changed the level of, or the number of friends that I had and the level of contact that I had with them.

So, with some people it clearly decreased your level of interaction, but were there others with whom your contact increased in either quality or quantity while you were disconnected from the virtual social society?

Reilly: That was my other favorite part. I had so much free time on my hands. I also wasn't watching TV, because that felt sort of counter-productive. I would go to school, and then there was really nothing for me to do at home, so I would just ride my bike to people's houses, all these people that I would usually text or just see on the weekends or whatever. I would just ride by and chat with them, face to face. So, that was really cool, reconnecting, doing things you'd never normally do like having breakfast with someone's parents.

You posted several of the notes you received from friends during your isolation. One note read "Jake, I'm pregnant. Call me." What was that about?

Reilly: Ha! At the school, there's an elevator. No matter where you're going, everyone has to use the elevator on the ground floor. So, for the people that I went to school with, that was the first place we'd post projects or memes. I didn't say this is my message board, but one of the girls just started leaving messages, like, "Hey. I'm on the fourth floor. Come find me," or "Jake, where are you?" It's a very public forum, so everybody can read it. It became my message spot.

Then, people almost treated it like a Facebook wall. It evolved from leaving messages for each other, to joking around, like, "Jake, your mother called. She said she doesn't love you anymore," and "Jake, the cops are looking for you," and all this stuff. It turned into a funny thing.

At one point there was a Christmas greeting trampled in the snow? What were the circumstances around that?

Reilly: Yeah, that was mine for my long-term girlfriend who I had kind of stopped seeing, but then this whole thing kind of, I think, helped us get back together because whenever we were together there was no pressure. It was, OK, we're just going to enjoy each other right now, because I don't know when I'm going to see you again. There was no drunken text messaging and jealousy from Facebook. It was just her and I.

So we started seeing each other again, and I did a lot of cheesy stuff like writing a big chalk message on the street in front of her office building and sending her a cookie with a message written in frosting and stuff like that. On the last week that she was in Colorado I went out and wrote Merry Christmas to her -- that picture was taken from the roof of the apartment we were staying at.

Do you think that those who rely so heavily on social media to interact with others are training themselves to communicate only at the most superficial level?

Reilly: Yeah, for sure. I think that Facebook is the biggest waste of time, because everyone is just presenting such a filtered picture of themselves. You only put up your best pictures. People only check in when they are at the fanciest restaurant in the city. They only keep things up there that are flattering to themselves. I just think it's like keeping up with the Joneses, but for life. You're never going to get on top of it. Someone's always going to have a better job than you, go on better vacations than you, have a better looking wife than you, or whatever it is. So, it's superficiality on top of superficiality. You never get to see the real parts of people.

Did you have to relearn skills to function without electronic communications? Writing letters, for example. I know my son has nearly illegible penmanship because he has been typing everything instead of handwriting since he was very little.

Reilly: I really don't have good penmanship at all. The funny thing is that I had written like 15 or 20 letters, and I just held them for two weeks until one time I dropped my pack and realized that I had lost the letters. I had taken all the time to write the letters and then lost them, because I didn't take the time to go mail them. You know, when's the last time I sent a letter? Never. So, I had to remember to stamp it right away and get it in. Then, it's going to take a week to get there. So when you need to say something to someone, you need to get it right in on time.

You said that you had much more free time when you stayed off Facebook and social media sites. Did this extra time translate into higher productivity or better grades at school?

Reilly: Yeah, a hundred times over. Like I said, there wasn't really much to do at the house, so I stayed at school most nights until 10 when everyone else leaves around 6, without a doubt. I think what's so hard for people and so distracting for people is that where they work, there are social media distractions on the same machine that they are supposed to be using to do their work. I'm sure every office in the country suffers from these things. I couldn't go to these sites, and when you can't distract yourself, all you can do is work.

How did you fill all this extra time? What's one thing you would have never accomplished if you hadn't taken this break in your relationship with social media?

Reilly: I did a lot of things that I don't know […] other people would say they want to do. But I think, if they actually did them, they'd be of incredible value. I started meditating. People give you a lot of books that you can take time for, like "The Power of Now."

The best part for me was just the difference between riding your bike to work and going for a bike ride just for the fun of it. I would sit in the park a lot, throw the football with my friends, go ice-skating, and all that kind of silly stuff that you take for granted. It's all around you. I think that was the best part and most people really overlook that.

So you ended up not only with more time for work, but more time for play as well.

Reilly: Yes, absolutely. It was weird, because you had to think of how to play. Most people think more time for play means let's watch a whole series of video clips or tag some pictures, but when you don't have all that stuff, you expand your mind about what you want to do with your free time.

There's a real difference in the quality of that time. If I sit and play Angry Birds for an hour a day, I don't look back and say "You know, I had a really great Angry Birds session three weeks ago. That was a really great time," but if I share a sunset walk on the beach with someone, that's a memory that I can treasure forever.

Reilly: Yeah, sometimes you just sit on the internet and four hours goes by, and you're, like, I really didn't do one single thing. Maybe I looked at an article, looked at pictures, watched some dumb videos and got stuck in a YouTube black hole for an hour, just looking, looking, looking. I think you'd have a hard time finding anyone who thought that was really enriching your life.

I mentioned your story to my father-in-law the other day, he said "You want to interview somebody, talk to me. I've been doing that for 69 years!"

Reilly: Ha! I think that's what's so much fun about it. I've had a lot of action on Twitter for the last few days and a lot of people send me emails saying exactly that. I think adults really relate to it and think it's cool that someone from my generation is choosing to do it. They all say, "That's how we lived for 40 years. Can you imagine our whole life is like that?" That was interesting to me. I asked my grandparents, "How did you guys find each other when you wanted to go out or something?" They said stuff like throwing window pebbles and just driving by people's houses, and having a diner that you would go and turn up at where people were always there. I mean, they obviously managed just fine, and I was anxious about it and didn't like it for the first few weeks. Then, I didn't even think about my phone or miss it at all. You just find new ways.

I understand your father, ESPN sportswriter Rick Reilly, had a suggestion about your experience?

Reilly: Yeah, he's tweeted it out on his account and he's gotten a lot of reaction to it, too. He's been talking about trying to do a romantic comedy about it. There were so many missed connections. I mean, at first, I would meet girls out at the bar, and they'd be, like, "Here, take my phone number." I would have to explain that I didn't have an email address or Facebook…

…but if they'll give you their address you'll stop by sometime?

Reilly: Yeah, and they were, like, "Screw you. If you don't want to call me just say so." I'd say "No, no. Tell me where your office is, and I'll send you a bike courier message or whatever." I think there's a lot of funny stuff like that. I keep telling people the hardest part was having to send all of my sexts by USPS. I mean, I didn't actually send pictures…

In the end, having finished this whole thing, is your life different now or did you fall right back into old habits?

Reilly: It's definitely different, but I catch myself doing exactly what I hated. Someone is talking to me and I'm half-listening and reading a text under the table. For me, it's trying to be more aware of it. It kind of evolved from being about technology to more of just living in the moment. I think that's what my biggest thing is: There's not so much chasing for me now. I'm here now, and let's just enjoy this. You can be comfortable with yourself and not have to go to the crutch of your phone. For me, that's more what I will take away from this.

Do you have future projects planned?

Reilly: I keep telling everyone I should do another 90 days where I don't speak to anyone in person and only communicate by internet or through technology, but that's just a joke. It's really changed my life. Like I said, I'm back with this girl. Everything's a lot simpler. I'm more than happy that I did it.

What else did you learn?

Reilly: I think the letters were the coolest part and how people were really into it. I think I wrote 75 letters and nearly, I'd say, 85 percent came back with responses. Now all these people are responding to the video online. All the appreciation, I think the coolest part is that all these people really see this in themselves and wish that there was a different way and we weren't so tied to all that stuff.

Let me ask you one more question about the letters. What's the difference in the level of thought and feeling that you put into writing a letter compared to typing 140 characters?

Reilly: What we do now, on e-chat, is people just flying off with whatever comes to mind. It's so much different to have it really thought-out. I'm a writer, so it's time consuming. I think it takes 20 minutes or half an hour to write a letter and really get it the way I want it. I think it's a better, purer way to communicate. People appreciate it so much more when you send them a handwritten letter or even a thank-you note showing that you're taking the time to think about them.

Conclusion:

With modern technology, texts and Facebook wall posts can serve as an attractive veneer making relationships seem more genuine than they really are. Conversely, social media can interfere with our most intimate real-life relationships. How many of your closest relationships would suffer if people had to invest more effort than sending a text to stay in touch? How much better could your relationship with your significant other be if you could give your partner your full attention whenever you're together? There's one way to find out, if you dare.

http://news.yahoo.com/90-days-without-cell-phone-email-social-media-015300257.html

Yes, Your Cell Phone Is That Bad For You

2012-01-30T12:39:00.000-05:00

Yes, Your Cell Phone Is That Bad For You [INFOGRAPHIC]

8:30 am, January 30th | by Amy Tennery

Yup, your work Blackberry (or iPhone, or Droid, or…) actually may be shooting horrid deathrays straight into your face… at least according to a new infographic from the Infographic List blog.

Because there’s no better way to start your week than in utter terror, check out this freaky list of reasons that your cell phone might be killing you.

http://www.thejanedough.com/cell-phone-dangers/

Elektronik i soveværelset ødelægger din nattesøvn

2012-01-30T12:19:00.000-05:00

Elektronik i soveværelset ødelægger din nattesøvn

MEDIER. Det kan forstyrre ens søvn, hvis man har pc eller mobilen med, når man går i seng - Foto: Jonas Pryner Andersen

Soveværelset bør kun bruges til søvn og sex, viser ny forskning.

FACEBOOK

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AF TATIANA TILLY

Det kan virke både hyggeligt og uskyldigt at bruge sin computer eller mobiltelefon i sengen, men i virkeligheden kan det have en meget negativ effekt på hverdagen.

Det viser en ny undersøgelse, der er foretaget af en gruppe forskere fra Universitetet i Bergen og Nasjonalt Kompetansesenter for søvnsykdommer i Norge. Resultaterne er for nylig blevet publiceret i tidsskriftet Journal of Sleep Research.

»Brug af pc og mobil i soveværelset hænger tydeligt sammen med det, vi i fagsprog kalder for forsinket døgnrytme», siger professor og søvforsker Ståle Pallesen til videnskab.dk.

»I praksis fører sådan en tilstand til, at du sover mindre i hverdagene, noget som videre vil gøre dig mere uoplagt om dagen og svække din evne til læring«.

Et rum til søvn og sex
Studiet er baseret på svar fra 816 repræsentativt udvalgte nordmænd i alderen 16-40, der har fortalt om deres brug af medier i soveværelset.

De mennesker, der ofte bruger aktive medier som pc og mobil, når de befinder sig i soveværelset, har en tendens til generelt at gå senere i seng om aftenen og stå senere op om morgenen, viser resultaterne.

»Resultatet af dette bliver som regel et stort spænd mellem sengetid til hverdag og i weekenderne, hvilket igen vil gøre det mere vanskeligt at falde tidligt nok i søvn på hverdage«, siger Ståle Pallesen.

LÆS OGSÅBippende smartphone gav Per hjertebanken

Søvnforskeren mener, at man bør holde de aktive medier ude af soveværelset, idet de ødelægger den rolige atmosfære, der bør være i et soveværelse. Derfor mener han heller ikke, at man bør spise eller arbejde samme sted, som man sover.

»Hvis man gør de ting og foretager andre vågne aktiviteter over længere tid, vil man efter et stykke tid forbinde soveværelset med aktiverende stimuli. Værelset vil ikke stimulere til søvn, men til vågenhed«, siger han.

Ifølge Ståle Pallesen bør man udelukkende bruge soveværelset til søvn og seksuel aktivitet.

Ungdommen sover dårligst
Særligt ungdommens brug af de aktive medier gør forskerne bekymrede. Især er det nemlig de unge, der har en tendens til at tage elektronikken med i seng.

»Ungdommen er den gruppe, som får mindst søvn, sammenlignet med deres faktiske behov, samtidig med at de bruger de nye medier vældigt aktivt«, siger Ståle Pallesen tilvidenskab.dk.

LÆS OGSÅStressklinikker: Smartphones gør danskere syge

»De skruer ikke ned for telefonlydene eller sætter på lydløs, når de går i seng. De bruger telefonen aktivt, før de skal sove, og forstyrres også af sms eller opringninger, mens de sover«.

Computerspil viste ingen negativ effekt på søvnvanerne, men ifølge søvforskeren skyldes det, at der ikke var mange, der spillede computer i soveværelset.

FACEBOOKBliv ven med Politiken

http://politiken.dk/tjek/sundhedogmotion/sundhed/ECE1519695/elektronik-i-sovevaerelset-oedelaegger-din-nattesoevn/

From: Olle Johansson

Till Alla!/Dear All,

I just got this link, http://politiken.dk/tjek/sundhedogmotion/sundhed/ECE1519695/elektronik-i-sovevaerelset-oedelaegger-din-nattesoevn/, it is about "Electronics in the bedroom destroys your sleep", and written in Danish.

I give you below the crude Google translation:

"It may seem pleasant and harmless to use her computer or mobile phone in bed, but in reality it can have a very negative effect on everyday life.
It shows a new study conducted by a group of researchers from the University of Bergen and nationally of excellence for søvnsykdommer in Norway. The results were recently published in the Journal of Sleep Research.
"Using PC and mobile in the bedroom is clearly related to what we call the LSP for delayed circadian rhythms", says Professor søvforsker Ståle Pallesen to videnskab.dk.
"In practice, lead such a state that you are sleeping less every day, something further will make you more lethargic during the day and weaken your ability to learning '.
A room for sleep and sexThe study is based on responses from 816 representatively selected Norwegians aged 16-40, who have described their use of media in the bedroom.
The people who frequently use active media such as PC and mobile when they are in the bedroom, have a tendency to generally go to bed later at night and get up later in the morning, the results show.
"The result of this is usually an important gap between bedtime on weekdays and weekends, which in turn will make it more difficult to fall asleep early enough on weekdays," says Ståle Pallesen.
READ OGSÅBippende smartphone gave Per heartbeat
Sleep researchers believe that one should keep active media out of the bedroom because they destroy the peaceful atmosphere that should be in a bedroom.Therefore, he believes does not mean you should eat or work in the same place as you sleep.
"If you do those things and make other waking activity over longer time, you will after a while connecting the bedroom with activating stimuli. The room will not stimulate sleep, but wakefulness, "he says.
According Ståle Pallesen you should only use the bedroom for sleep and sexual activity.
Young people are sleeping lessEspecially the youth use of active media makes researchers worried.Specifically, it is namely the young people who have a tendency to take electronics into bed.
"Youth is the group that gets less sleep compared to their actual needs, while using the new media mighty active," says Ståle Pallesen to videnskab.dk.
READ also stress clinics: Smartphones do Danes sick
"They do not screw down the phone sounds or put on silent when they go to bed. They use the phone activated before going to sleep and also disturbed by sms or phone calls while they sleep. "
Computer showed no negative effect on sleep habits, but according søvforskeren it is because there were many who played computer in the bedroom."

Med många vänliga hälsningar/With my very best regards
vännen/Yours sincerely
Olle

(Olle Johansson, assoc. prof.
The Experimental Dermatology Unit
Department of Neuroscience
Karolinska Institute
171 77 Stockholm
Sweden

&

Professor
The Royal Institute of Technology
100 44 Stockholm
Sweden)

Columbia University Law School – Wireless Hazards Panel

2012-01-29T09:30:00.001-05:00

Columbia University Law School – Wireless Hazards Panel

15.11.2009 by Camilla Category Electromagnetic Health Blog

Wireless Hazards Panel - Columbia University Law School from ElectromagneticHealth.Org on Vimeo.

Columbia University Law School will be the site for a panel December 1st on the health hazards of electromagnetic fields. The panel will be comprised of health advocate, Camilla Rees, founder of www.ElectromagneticHealth.org; attorney Whitney North Seymour, Jr., a co-founder of the Natural Resources Defense Council, and Martin Blank, PhD, of the Dept. of Physiology and Cellular Biophysics at Columbia University, a widely published scientist in this field.

Date and Time: Tuesday, December 1st – 12:10-1:15 p.m.
Location: JGH 104 (Jerome Greene Hall)

EMF Presentation Poster

Flyer for Faculty and Students

Columbia Law School Announcement

Columbia Law School

Wireless Hazards Panel
An Emerging Public Health and Environmental Issue Tuesday,
December 1st – 12:10-1:15 p.m. – JGH 104 (Jerome Greene Hall)

Faculty and students are invited to attend a panel discussion on an important emerging public health issue related to wireless technologies at 12:10 p.m. on Tuesday, December 1st in Jerome Green Hall #104 at Columbia Law School. Panelists will include Whitney North Seymour, Jr., Esq. who is former NY State Senator and U.S. Attorney, Southern District of NY, and co-founder of the Natural Resources Defense Council; Health Advocate Camilla Rees, MBA (Barnard ’80), co-author of “Public Health SOS: The Shadow Side of the Wireless Revolution”, co-author of “Cellphones and Brain Tumors: 15 Reasons for Concern” and Founder of ElectromagneticHealth.org; and Martin Blank, PhD of the Department of Physiology and Cellular Biophysics at Columbia University, who is past President of the Bioelectromagnetics Society.

The panel will give an overview of 1) the new condition, “electrohypersensitivity”, where people become functionally impaired and sometimes disabled near wireless technologies, such as cell phones, cell towers, DECT portable phones, RFID tags and wireless routers; 2) known biological effects of microwave radiation; and 3) the legal battles being fought across the country and the globe related to this rapidly proliferating invisible environmental pollutant.

Learn:

How the Telecommunications Act of 1996 took away the ability of state and local governments
to protect people from wireless hazards.
Why the European Parliament has recommended greatly lowered exposure guidelines,
including wireless-free schools, day care centers, retirement homes and health care facilities.
Why countries around the globe are recommending limited cell phone use by children.
What the impact of microwave radiation is on animals and wildlife.
How the telecommunications industry is responding.
How lawyers and law students can make a difference.

Understand why this is a critical issue for our country to address now, including 1) links to many chronic and serious illnesses, which are expected to increase with chronic exposures; 2) plans to blanket metropolitan areas in Wi-Max, a high powered form of wi-fi, 3) federal commitment to a National Broadband Plan which is comprised heavily of wireless technologies; and 4) new radiationemitting utility technologies being deployed in SmartGrids, bringing an additional layer of radiation onto electrical wiring.

Join us for this most interesting discussion with experts at the forefront of this field. Attendees will receive of copy of the new book by Camilla Rees and Magda Havas, PhD, “Public Health SOS: The Shadow Side of the Wireless Revolution”.

Share and Enjoy:

http://electromagnetichealth.org/electromagnetic-health-blog/columbia-university-law-school-wireless-hazards-panel/

EMF Research Studies

2012-01-29T08:50:00.000-05:00

EMF Research Studies
Showing Links Between RF Exposure and Possible Adverse Health Effects

Many studies show a connection between exposure to radio frequency (RF) electromagnetic fields (EMFs) and adverse health effects; many do not, preventing across-the-board conclusions about health risks associated with use of wireless technologies such as cellular and cordless phones, WiFi or baby monitors. Below is an incomplete list of studies which demonstrate a nexus between EMF and adverse health effects and/or the development of thermal or non-thermal effects which may lead to health problems.

General:

Blackman C. Cell phone radiation: Evidence from ELF and RF studies supporting more inclusive risk identification and assessment.Pathophysiology. 2009 Aug;16(2-3):205-16. [Abstract]

Hallberg Ö, Johansson O. Long-term sickness and mobile phone use. J Aust Coll Nutr & Env Med. 2004;23:11-12.

Johansson O. Electrohypersensitivity: State-of-the-art of a functional impairment. Electromag Biol Med. 25: 245-258, 2006. [Abstract]

Khurana VG, Hardell L, et al. Epidemiological evidence for a health risk from mobile phone base stations. Int J Occup Health. 2010, July-Sept. 16(3):263-7. [Abstract]

Santini R. [Cellular telephones and their relay stations: a health risk? (article in French)] Presse Med 1999; 28: 1884-1886. [Abstract]

Santini R, Seigne M, et al. [Danger of cellular telephones and their relay stations (article in French)]. Pathol Biol (Paris) 2000; 48: 525-528. [Abstract]

Santini R, Santini P, et al. [Investigation on the health of people living near mobile telephone relay stations: I/Incidence according to distance and sex (article in French)]. Pathol Biol (Paris) 2002; 50: 369-373. [Abstract]

Cancer - Studies Linking Exposure to RF Energy to Development of Tumors:

Balcer-Kubiczek EK,Harrison GH. Evidence for microwave carcinogenesis in vitro. Carcinogenesis, 6;859, 1985. [Abstract]

Hardell L, Mild K H, et al. Ionizing radiation, cellular telephones and the risk for brain tumours. Eur J Cancer Prev 2001; 10: 523-529. [Abstract]

Hardell L, Hallquist A, et al. Cellular and cordless telephones and the risk for brain tumours. Eur J Cancer Prev 2002; 11: 377-386. [Abstract]

Hardell L, Mild KH, Carlberg M. Case-control study on the use of cellular and cordless phones and the risk for malignant brain tumours. Int J Radiat Biol 2002; 78: 931-936. [Abstract]

Hardell L, Carlberg M, et al. Long-term use of cellular phones and brain tumours: Increased risk associated with use > 10 years. Occup Environ Med. 2007 September; 64(9):626-632.

Hardell L, Nasman A, et al. Case-control study on radiology work, medical x-ray investigations, and use of cellular telephones as risk factors for brain tumors. MedGenMed 2000 May 4;2(2):E2. [Abstract]

Interphone Study Group. Brain tumour risk in relation to mobile telephone use: results of the INTERPHONE international case control study. Int J Epidemiol, 2010 June;39(3):695-8.

Lönn S, Ahlbom A, et al. Mobile phone use and the risk of acoustic neuroma. Epidemiology 15: 653-659, 2004. [Abstract]

Genotoxcity - Studies Linking Exposure to RF Emissions and Effects on DNA:

Aitken RJ, Bennetts LE, et al. Impact of radio frequency electromagnetic radiation on DNA integrity in the male germline. Inter J Androl 28:171-179, 2005. [Abstract]

Balode, Z. Assessment of radio-frequency electromagnetic radiation by the micronucleus test in bovine peripheral erythrocytes. Sci Total Environ180(1):81-85, 1996. [Abstract]

Belyaev IYa, Alipov YD, et al. Resonance effect of microwaves on the genome conformational state of E. coli cells. Z Naturforsch [C] 47(7-8):621-827, 1992. [Abstract]

Belyaev IY, Shcheglov VS, et al. Resonance effect of millimeter waves in the power range from 10(-19) to 3 x 10(-3) W/cm2 on Escherichia coli cells at different concentrations. Bioelectromagnetics 17(4):312-321, 1996. [Abstract]

Belyaev IY, Hillert L, et al. 915 MHz microwaves and 50 Hz magnetic field affect chromatin conformation and 53BP1 foci in human lymphocytes from hypersensitive and healthy persons. Bioelectromagnetics.26(3):173-184, 2005. [Abstract]

Belyaev IY, Koch CB, et al. Exposure of rat brain to 915 MHz GSM microwaves induces changes in gene expression but not double stranded DNA breaks or effects on chromatin conformation.Bioelectromagnetics. 27:295-306, 2006. [Abstract]

Busljeta I, Trosic I, Milkovic-Kraus S. Erythropoietic changes in rats after 2.45 GJz nonthermal irradiation. Int J Hyg Environ Health. 207(6):549-554, 2004. [Abstract]

d’Ambrosio G, Massa R, et al. Cytogenetic damage in human lymphocytes following GMSK phase modulated microwave exposure.Bioelectromagnetics 23:7-13, 2002. [Abstract]

Diem E, Schwarz C, et al. Non-thermal DNA breakage by mobile-phone radiation (1800MHz) in human fibroblasts and in transformed GFSH-R17 rat granulosa cells in vitro. Mutat Res. 583:178-183, 2005. [Abstract]

Ferreira AR, Knakievicz T, et al. Ultra high frequencyelectromagnetic field irradiation during pregnancy leads to an increase in erythrocytes micronuclei incidence in rat offspring. Life Sci. 80:43-50, 2006. [Abstract]

Fucic A, Garaj-Vrhovac V, et al. X-rays, microwaves and vinyl chloride monomer: their clastogenic and aneugenic activity, using the micronucleus assay on human lymphocytes. Mutat Res 282(4):265-271, 1992. [Abstract]

Gadhia PK, Shah T, et al. A Preliminary Study to Assess Possible Chromosomal Damage Among Users of Digital Mobile Phones.Electromag Biol Med 22:149-159, 2003. [Abstract]

Gandhi GA. Genetic damage in mobile phone users: some preliminary findings. Ind J Hum Genet 11(2): 99-104, 2005. [Abstract]

Gandhi G, Singh P. Cytogenetic damage in mobile phone users: preliminary data. Int J Hum Genet 5(4):259-265, 2005.

Garaj-Vrhovac V, Fucic A, Horvat D. The correlation between the frequency of micronuclei and specific chromosome aberrations in human lymphocytes exposed to microwave radiation in vitro. Mutat Res281(3):181-186, 1992. [Abstract]

Garaj-Vrhovac V, Horvat D, Koren Z. The effect of microwave radiation on the cell genome. Mutat Res 243(2):87-93, 1990. [Abstract]

Garaj-Vrhovac V, Horvat D, Koren Z. The relationship between colony-forming ability, chromosome aberrations and incidence of micronuclei in V79 Chinese hamster cells exposed to microwave radiation. Mutat Res263(3):143-149, 1991. [Abstract]

Garaj-Vrhovac V. Micronucleus assay and lymphocyte mitotic activity in risk assessment of occupational exposure to microwave radiation.Chemosphere 39(13):2301-2312, 1999. [Abstract]

Garaj-Vrhovac V, Horvat D, Koren Z. The effect of microwave radiation on the cell genome. Mutat Res 243(2):87-93, 1990. [Abstract]

Haider T, Knasmueller S, et al. Clastogenic effects of radiofrequency radiations on chromosomes of Tradescantia. Mutat Res 324(1-2):65-68, 1994. [Abstract]

Lai H, Singh NP. Acute low-intensity microwave exposure increases DNA single-strand breaks in rat brain cells. Bioelectromagnetics 16(3):207-210, 1995. [Abstract]

Lai H, Singh NP. Single- and double-strand DNA breaks in rat brain cells after acute exposure to radiofrequency electromagnetic radiation. Int J Radiat Biol 69(4):513-521, 1996. [Abstract]

Lai, H, Singh NP. Melatonin and a spin-trap compound block radiofrequency electromagnetic radiation-induced DNA strand breaks in rat brain cells. Bioelectromagnetics 18(6):446-454, 1997a. [Abstract]

Lai H, Singh NP. Interaction of microwaves and a temporally incoherent magnetic field on single and double DNA strand breaks in rat brain cells.Electromag Biol Med 24:23-29, 2005. [Abstract]

Lai H, Carino MA, Singh NP. Naltrexone blocks RFR-induced DNA double strand breaks in rat brain cells. Wireless Networks 3:471-476, 1997. [Abstract]

Lixia S, Yao K, et al. Effects of 1.8GHz radiofrequency field on DNA damage and expression of heat shock protein 70 in human lens epithelial cells. Mutat Res. 602:135-42, 2006. [Abstract]

Markova E, Hillert L, et al. Microwaves from GSM Mobile Telephones Affect 53BP1 and gamma-H2AX Foci in Human Lymphocytes fromHypersensitive and Healthy Persons. Environ Health Perspect.113(9):1172-1177, 2005.

Mashevich M, Folkman D, et al. Exposure of human peripheral blood lymphocytes to electromagnetic fields associated with cellular phones leads to chromosomal instability. Bioelectromagnetics 24:82-90, 2003. [Abstract]

Narasimhan V, Huh WK. Altered restriction patterns of microwave irradiated lambdaphage DNA. Biochem Int 25(2):363-370, 1991. [Abstract]

Nikolova T, Czyz J, et al. Electromagnetic fields affect transcript levels of apoptosis-related genes in embryonic stem cell-derived neural progenitor cells. ASEB J. 19(12):1686-1688, 2005.

Ono T, Saito Y, et al. Absence of mutagenic effects of 2.45 GHz radiofrequency exposure in spleen, liver, brain, and testis of lacZ-transgenic mouse exposed in utero. Tohoku J Exp Med. 202(2):93-103, 2004.

Paulraj R, Behari J. Single strand DNA breaks in rat brain cells exposed to microwave radiation. Mutat Res. 596:76-80, 2006. [Abstract]

Pacini S, Ruggiero M, et al. Exposure to global system for mobile communication (GSM) cellular phone radiofrequency alters gene expression, proliferation, and morphology of human skin fibroblasts.Oncol Res 2002;13: 19-24. [Abstract]

Sarimov R, Malmgren LOG, et al. Nonthermal GSM microwaves affect chromatin conformation in human lymphocytes similar to heat shock.IEEE Trans Plasma Sci 32:1600-1608, 2004. [Abstract]

Sarkar S, Ali S, Behari J. Effect of low power microwave on the mouse genome: a direct DNA analysis. Mutat Res 320(1-2):141-147, 1994. [Abstract]

Semin IuA, Shvartsburg LK, Dubovik BV. [Changes in the secondary structure of DNA under the influence of external low-intensity electromagnetic field (article in Russian)] Radiats Biol Radioecol35(1):36-41, 1995. [Abstract]

Sykes PJ, McCallum BD, et al. Effect of Exposure to 900 MHz Radiofrequency Radiation on Intrachromosomal Recombination in pKZ1 Mice. Radiat Res 156(5):495-502, 2001. [Abstract]

Sun LX, Yao K, He JL, Lu DQ, Wang KJ, Li HW. [Effect of acute exposure to microwave from mobile phone on DNA damage and repair of cultured human lens epithelial cells in vitro.] Zhonghua Lao Dong Wei Sheng Zhi Ye Bing Za Zhi. 24(8):465-467, 2006. [Abstract]

Tice RR, Hook GG, et al. Genotoxicity of radiofrequency signals. I. Investigation of DNA damage and micronuclei induction in cultured human blood cells. Bioelectromagnetics 23:113-126, 2002. [Abstract]

Trosic I. Multinucleated giant cell appearance after whole body microwave irradiation of rats. Int J Hyg Environ Health. 204(2-3):133-138, 2001. [Abstract]

Trosic I, Busljeta I, et al. Micronucleus induction after whole-body microwave irradiation of rats. Mutat Res 521(1-2):73-79, 2002. [Abstract]

Trosic I, Busljeta I, Modlic B. Investigation of the genotoxic effect of microwave irradiation in rat bone marrow cells: in vivo exposure.Mutagenesis. 19(5):361-364, 2004.

Trosic I, Busljeta I. Erythropoietic dynamic equilibrium in rats maintained after microwave irradiation. Exp Toxicol Pathol. 57(3):247-251, 2006. [Abstract]

Zhang DY, Xu ZP, Chiang H, Lu DQ, Zeng QL. [Effects of GSM 1800 MHz radiofrequency electromagnetic fields on DNA damage in Chinese hamster lung cells.] Zhonghua Yu Fang Yi Xue Za Zhi. 40(3):149-152, 2006. [Abstract]

Zhang MB, He JL, et al. Study of low-intensity 2450-MHz microwave exposure enhancing the genotoxic effects of mitomycin C using micronucleus test and comet assay in vitro. Biomed Environ Sci15(4):283-290, 2002. [Abstract]

Zotti-Martelli L, Peccatori M, et al. Induction of micronuclei in humanlymphocytes exposed in vitro to microwave radiation. Mutat Res 472(1-2):51-58, 2000. [Abstract]

Zotti-Martelli L, Peccatori M, et al. Individual responsiveness to induction of micronuclei in human lymphocytes after exposure in vitro to 1800-MHz microwave radiation. Mutat Res. 582(1-2):42-52, 2005. [Abstract]

Cellular Stress Response - Studies Linking Exposure to RF Emissions to Production of Stress Proteins:

Blank M. Goodman R. Electromagnetic Fields Stress Living Cells.Pathophysiology. 2009 Aug;16(2-3):71-8. [Abstract]

Daniells C, Duce I, et al. Transgenic nematodes as biomonitors of microwave-induced stress. Mutat Res 1998; 399: 55-64. [Abstract]

Leszczynski D, Joenvaara S, et al. Non-thermal activation of the hsp27/ p38MAPK stress pathway by mobile phone radiation in human endothelial cells:Molecular mechanism for cancer-and blood-brain barrier-related effects.
Differentiation 70: 120-129, 2002. [Abstract]

Shallom JM, DiCarlo AL, et al. Microwave exposure induces hsp70 and confers protection against hypoxia in chick embryos. J Cell Biochem86:490-496, 2002. [Abstract]

Cardiovascular Effects - Studies Linking Exposure to RF Emissions to Heart Disturbances

Havas M, Marrongelle J, et al.Provocation study using heart rate variability shows microwave radiation from 2.4 GHz cordless phone affects autonomic nervous system. Eur. J. Oncol. Library Vol. 5, 2010.

Brain Effects - General:

Volkow ND, Tomasi D, et al. Effects of Cell Phone Radiofrequency Signal Exposure on Brain Glucose Metabolism. JAMA. 2011;305(8):808-813. [Abstract]

Brain Effects - Studies Linking Blood Brain Barrier and Nerve Effects to Exposure to RF Emissions:

Leszczynski D, Joenvaara S, et al. Non-thermal activation of the hsp27/p38MAPK stress pathway by mobile phone radiation in human endothelial cells: Molecular mechanism for cancer- and blood-brain barrier-related effects. Differentiation 2002; 70: 120-129. [Abstract]

Salford LG, Brun A, et al. Permeability of the bloodbrain barrier induced by 915 MHz electromagnetic radiation, continuous wave and modulated at 8, 16, 50, and 200 Hz. Microsc Res Tech 1994; 27: 535-542. [Abstract]

Salford LG, Brun AE, et al. Nerve cell damage in mammalian brain after exposure to microwaves from GSM mobile phones. Environ Health Perspect. 2003 June; 111(7): 881–883.

Immune Response - Studies Linking Exposure to RF Emissions and Immune Reactions:

Electrical Hypersensitivity – Human Studies in the UK. Conference Presentation WHO International Workshop on Electrical Hypersensitivity, October 25-26, 2004, Prague, Czech Republic.

Gangi S, Johansson O. A theoretical model based upon mast cells and histamine to explain the recently proclaimed sensitivity to electric and/or magnetic fields in humans. Med Hypotheses 2000; 54: 663-671. [Abstract]

Johansson O. "Electrohypersensitivity: Observations in the human skin of a physical impairment," Symposium on "Electrical Sensitivity in Human Beings". Royal Society of Medicine, London, U.K., September 11, 2004. [Extended abstract]

Kimata H. Enhancement of allergic skin wheal responses by microwave radiation from mobile phones in patients with atopic eczema/dermatitis syndrome. Int Arch Allergy Immunol 2002; 129: 348-350. [Abstract]

Group calls for moratorium on 'dangerous' smart meters

2012-01-28T16:58:00.002-05:00

Group calls for moratorium on 'dangerous' smart meters

View larger image

Smart meter

Updated: Wed Jan. 25 2012 11:24:27 PM

ctvmontreal.ca

MONTREAL — The fight against Hydro-Quebec's plan to install smart meters across the province continued on Wednesday as a group of Montrealers called for a moratorium, citing the unknown danger of the radio frequency used by the meters.

"We don't know what's the environmental danger if these smart meters are put in our homes,"said Marie-Michelle Poisson.

A resident of Villeray, Poisson refused to be part of the 18-month, 20,000-customer trial where Hydro-Quebec tested the meters in her neighbourhood and other small markets in the province.

A $350 million project, Hydro-Quebec hopes to have the meters installed province-wide by 2017. The meters can transmit accurate power and water data to the utility, removing the need for manual readings and invoices based on prior usage.

"We have a long way to go is to explain to our customers, one by one, that the technology is safe," said Isabelle Courville, president of distribution for Hydro-Quebec.

Courville said the RF emissions from the new wireless device are 100,000 times below recommended limits. Health Canada compares the signals to those emitted by cell phones and wireless Internet routers.

Despite the reassurances, organizers with the Quebec Coalition to Fight Electromagnetic Pollution want the government to enact tougher standards.

According to McGill Science and Society Director Joe Schwarcz, radio frequency studies are conclusive: the meters will not have negative health effects.

"We know that radiofrequency cannot break chemical bonds and in order to induce cancer you need to break chemical bonds," said Schwarcz.

Poisson cited another concern, her feeling that Hydro-Quebec was ignoring her right to choose.

"I don't have a cell phone, I've never had one. As for WiFi, I will be switching back to cables because I have the choice," said Poisson. "With smart meters, you don't have the choice."

http://montreal.ctv.ca/servlet/an/local/CTVNews/20120125/mtl_hydro_120125/20120125/?hub=MontrealHome

Taverham woman pledges to leave her home of over 45 years if phone mast gets the go-ahead

2012-01-28T16:52:00.003-05:00

Taverham woman pledges to leave her home of over 45 years if phone mast gets the go-ahead

David FreezerSaturday, January 28, 2012
9.19 AM

A Taverham woman is so upset about a proposal for a new phone mast that she says she could be driven out of her home of more than 45 years.

Residents opposed to a phone mast in Springfield Road, Taverham. Anne Nygren, second left.Photo: Bill Smith

Anne Nygren, 66, says the phone mast would leave her bungalow, on the corner of Springfield Road and Fakenham Road, sandwiched between it and an electricity sub-station.

Miss Nygren, the ex-wife of former Norwich Stars speedway rider Olle Nygren, said: “I wouldn’t be able to stay here. A few years ago I used to suffer from the most horrendous migraines. That doesn’t happen any more but I couldn’t just sit here and wait for that to start happening again.”

The application was lodged by Everything Everywhere, which runs mobile providers Orange and T-Mobile, and the 3 network. It is for a 12ft high mast, along with three antennas and an equipment cupboard at its base.

Broadland District Council has no grounds on which to reject the ‘application for prior approval’ as the government’s stance is that phone masts are needed to meet public demand for phone signal.

Phone masts are designated as ‘permitted development’ nationally, so don’t need planning permission, and local councils are not allowed to refuse ‘prior approval’ because of health concerns – as long as the applicant proves the mast complies with World Health Organisation guidelines.

However, an objection was lodged at a meeting of Taverham Parish Council’s planning committee on Monday night, with around 20 people attending the meeting.

The planning committee’s chairman, John Pennells, said: “I’m quite sure there are better places where this can be put that wouldn’t come in to contact with people as much.

“It would seem the first things these companies look for is where the closes electricity supply is, and that is what has happened here.”

Miss Nygren has been photocopying the planning notice posted by the district council and posting through her neighbours’ letter boxes to try and garner support.

She is asking people to help her in her fight by also lodging an objection, before the deadline of next Thursday.

She added: “I’m in my 60s and now I’m well out of my depth because a lot of this I don’t understand.

“The health impact is my prior concern but of course this will depreciate the value of my property as well.

“So it’s what I’m calling spectacularly bad positioning.”

The phone mast would also be within a quarter of a mile of a proposed 15m phone mast for Vodafone and 02, on the corner of Sandy Lane and Fakenham Road, which has also been campaigned against by local residents.

Miss Nygren has been backed by several of her neighbours, including Peter and Mary Westrup, who have also sent a letter of objection, saying they believe the mast will be “visually intrusive” and also citing their health concerns.

The applicant for the phone mast, Everything Everywhere, declined to comment on the situation while the 21-day objection period is still valid.

Has your community been angered by a planning application? Contact reporter David Freezer on 01603 772418 or david.freezer@archant.co.uk

http://www.eveningnews24.co.uk/news/taverham_woman_pledges_to_leave_her_home_of_over_45_years_if_phone_mast_gets_the_go_ahead_1_1190765#.TyRdkhmCjEY.facebook

Ron Paul 2012 New Ad Campaign

2012-01-28T09:03:00.002-05:00

One Man`s Tragic Story

2012-01-28T08:44:00.003-05:00

THE TIPPING EDGE – NEEDING TO GO HOME.

My name is Alwyn Lewies and I am 38 years old. I am giving a short background of my life with an illness called Electromagnetic Sensitivity (ES) which I have been struggling with for the past 12 years since exposure from a cell mast.

It started in 2000 with a cell phone tower that was erected at my workplace in Wapadrand, Pretoria. We were approached by a cell phone company who was interested in putting up a tower on my premises and we were assured that the tower would have no effect on us at all.

Unfortunately this wasn’t the truth but the exact opposite than what we were told. Within a brief period since the erection of the first tower, another one appeared only 80 meters away. Four months after these installations, my first symptoms started to appear.

While being at work, I experienced a ‘burning’ sensation in my head. The pain far exceeded that of a normal headache. After going to my doctor, I was prescribed anti-depressants because the doctor said I was experiencing work stress. We thought the stress was the cause for my headaches.

In the beginning my headaches were painful, but bearable. But after some time, the pain became excruciating. I then started to go from one doctor to the next, underwent several tests and brain scans, but all reflected as normal. I started monitoring my pain and realized that I only experienced pain after making a phone call on my mobile phone, and when being close to a cell phone tower.

Research confirmed my assumptions that it was in fact the radiation from these devices that caused my headaches. A short time after, all other electronic devices such as TV’s, electric motors etc. started to affect me. To an extend, I was able to avoid some of these devices, but the cell phone towers were popping up all over the city and was a constant obstacle.

The radiation started to affect me so badly that I wasn’t able to function in any way. I started to experience a new symptom which was the constant ringing in my ears.

As time passed, matters got worse, and I met Dr. Cloete in 2004. For the first time, I was diagnosed with EMS and it was a relief to finally put a name to my illness.

Studies showed that much research has been done, but a cure has yet to be discovered. The best I could do was to boost my immune system as much as possible.

EMS entails that the person is allergic to radiation and electronic devices these allergies affect me the same way that someone suffers from constant hay fever and can’t stand those allergies. Due to the density of the radiation levels, my pain became unbearable to handle. My body simply couldn’t cope with those levels of radiation.

I have met a few people who are also being affected by the radiation.

In 2004 I was forced to seek employment elsewhere at a construction company as my body couldn’t handle the strain of the towers in such close proximity. After two years had passed, I resigned once more after all got worse and I was barely functioning and couldn’t keep track of my thoughts.

Due to a lack of income, we had to sell our house and our family moved in with my parents. The only room where I felt the least pain was on the dining room floor. The electricity had to be switched off at the main switch in order for me to sleep. During the day, I was confined to this small space, because this was the only place in the house with the lowest radiation.

With no improvement after some time had passed, an opportunity came along for me to stay on a sheep farm in the Karoo. My family moved to Cape Town to stay with her parents for the birth of our son. My health improved but the distance between us became a problem. I had to get closer, but I couldn’t move back into the radiation.

I went back to be with them in Cape Town, but I had to sleep in my car every night. I drove to different places to try out where I felt best, but it was very unsafe. This continued for two weeks. After the birth of my son, I was forced to find a place to stay as a family. In June 2007 we found a small cottage in Gordon’s Bay where the radiation was minimal. I was only able to sleep on the kitchen floor where the radiation was lowest. The situation wasn’t ideal, but we were together, and this lifted our spirits.

We managed to stay there for almost a year, but in the beginning of 2009 I felt a new signal in the area which was very strong. The sleeplessness and pain started again and I couldn’t be in the house any longer.

Once more the nightmare started, and I didn’t know what to do, or where to go. The anxiety and uncertainty I experienced was frightening.

The following thoughts were flashing through my mind. I had to leave my wife and two small kids once more and they were too young to understand why I was abandoning them once more. The idea of me having to sleep in my car again was unthinkable and I didn’t know which pain was worse – the burning sensation in my head, or the heartache.

The turmoil continued for two weeks as I slept in my car next to the side of the road where there was no reception. Sleeping in discomfort and fear, the only times I went home was to eat and clean. It was then when I learned about a lady outside a West Coast town called Clanwilliam, who had also been effected from antennae on her office in Cape Town and now also as a result suffered from the same illness and had to leave her family.

I packed the car and left for Clanwilliam, but was unable to afford the accommodation. After taking a trail into the bush, I stayed next to the river without food for several days. I later ended up in a small town in the Cederberg called Wupperthal. It is very secluded from modern society and has no cell phone reception. I managed to rent a small cottage from the Moravian Church who owns the town. There I found relief from my constant pain.

Meanwhile, my family tried their best to visit, but I ended up seeing them only two weekends a month. The distance of 400 km and a very bad gravel road made it a time consuming trip with two young children.

During this period, I did extensive travelling up and down the West Coast and Cederberg and closer to Somerset West in search for a save place to stay, only to come up empty handed. At that stage I spent every second weekend in my car.

In 2009 I had to leave Wupperthal because I wasn’t allowed to rent accommodation for a long period of time seeing that I wasn’t a member of the Moravian church. My only option was to move back to Pretoria. One day I met an engineer who specializes in radiation blockage. He assured me that it was possible to isolate a room from radiation although it would be costly.

During 2010 I did extensive travelling between Pretoria and Cape Town in order to build a safe room, but due to a lack of finances and proper materials it was unsuccessful. I had to remain in Pretoria. In the beginning of 2011 it became clear that my wife was under enormous pressure and I realized that I urgently had to try and get back to them. She struggled to manage with us being apart, the kids and a demanding work.

This forced me to go back and support my family to the best of my ability, while facing the daily agony, no matter how bad. After three months, my body started falling apart from the constant radiation and living in my car. The spot where I spent most of my time was 30 km away from my home.

During this period, I have been inspected by the police, harassed and threatened by people under the influence. On one occasion I was nearly killed when a drunken person crashed his vehicle a few meters from mine. Throughout 2011 I stayed with my family for a period of only 3 months while I spent over 90 nights in my car, thereafter I spent the rest of the year in isolation. It is only by the grace of God that I have managed to stay alive and well through these past years.

I suffered several attacks, similar to epileptic attacks whenever I was exposed to the elements for too long. My wife and I decided that it really was impossible for me to be with them because the next step could be fatal. In the beginning of June 2011 I kissed my family goodbye and left for Pretoria. It felt unreal but I had to push forward for survival.

On arrival at my parents’ house I was shocked beyond my wildest belief. Their house was no longer safe for me to stay at. I started feeling the agonizing sypmtoms where I had previously coped before. A tower had been erected within very close proximity and although I wasn’t sure what type of tower it was, the signal was too strong for me to handle. I thought I had finally run out of options.

I didn’t know where to go or where I was going to sleep. I drove out to a farm 230 km outside Pretoria, close to Polokwane, where I created a man-made tent in the middle of the bush. I have been here since then and haven’t seen my family. In the last 6 months while being thousands of kilometers away.

At this moment I am lonely and cut off from the outside world, friends and family. The only reason I remain here is to sleep and survive. There’s no tower in close proximity of the farm. During the past month my tent, mattress and belongings have been flooded during summer rainstorms.

During the past few years, I have missed several events in my families’ life which can’t be bought. My daughters’ first tooth pulled her first bicycle ride, her first school concert, and my son’s first pictures he drew and the first time he slept without his diaper. I miss the love and support of my wife.

Many other people are starting to show similar symptoms, but it’s being swept under the carpet because the radiation is a multi million rand industry.

In countries such as Sweden, Canada, France, Switzerland and Japan there are certain laws in place to protect citizens from these health hazards. The South African authorities should start looking into this matter because it is becoming a growing concern.

Should the cell phone industry be willing to look into adjusting the cell phone transmissions close to my home in Somerset West, I may have a chance at living a reasonably normal life with my family. I haven’t lived in my home, nor have I slept next to my wife on the same bed in the last 6 years. During the past 6 years I have moved more than 10 times. At his stage I have spent more than 300 nights in my car.

Most of these places are barely livable conditions to stay in. I am tired of being on the run and my body is exhausted I have led a nomadic life and been deprived of my rights being a husband, father and friend. Meanwhile my children are growing up without their father and I’m not leading a fulfilling life. I have a need to be part of my family’s lives, but instead we’re being pulled apart. This is the worse punishment that anyone can endure.

I will continue to fight until the end. I owe it to myself and my family to seek a way to find a normal life. This letter is my last attempt to try and convince the authorities that ES is very real and a life threatening disease. I just want my life back and it really just depends on the cell phone towers closest to my home. I put my trust in God, that He will put the right people on my path that could assist me in ending this terrible nightmare.

At some point in time, the cell phone industry would have to acknowledge that we are facing a major catastrophe which can’t be reversed. I am pleading with them to see the life through my eyes, put them in my position and see things from my perspective. I am pleading for these cell phone towers to be adjusted and that will give me my life back.

I can assure you that it would be the miracle that our family had been praying for the past 11 years. Not just one, but four people’s future could be changed for the better. I implore you to make some small changes that would have enormous positive repercussions in many people’s lives.

I thank you for this opportunity to put my story in writing and sharing it with you. I put all my trust in our system and believe that it won’t be in vain.

Regards

Alwyn Lewies

For further information please contact Adri Lewies : 021 852 4971

adrilewies@gmail.com

Electromagnetic Radiation Research Foundation of South Africa 011 467 1408.

info@emrrfsa.co.za

www.emrrfsa.org

Research on Transfer Factors in Disease Treatment and Prevention

2012-01-28T08:13:00.002-05:00

Research on Transfer Factors in Disease Treatment and Prevention

Transfer factor (TF) ... has been used successfully over the past quarter of a century for treating viral, parasitic, and fungal infections, as well as immuno- deficiencies, neoplasias, allergies and autoimmune diseases. Moreover, several observations suggest that it can be utilized for prevention, transferring immunity prior to infection ...Thus, a specific TF to a new influenza virus can be made swiftly and used for prevention as well as for the treatment of infected patients.

- Giancarlo Pizza et al, 2006

The last century witnessed several important advances in disease treatment and prevention. In 1949, at a time when the benefits of vaccines were becoming apparent and penicillin, along with the sulfa antibiotics developed in Germany, were gaining reputations as wonder drugs, a New York University tuberculosis researcher named Dr. H Sherwood Lawrence made another important discovery. He extracted intracellular fluid from circulat- ing white blood cells in patients who had been exposed to tuberculosis (TB). He then injected the contents of these cells into non-exposed patients. Using a test for an immune response known as delayed type hypersensitivity, he demonstrated that the non-exposed patient’s immune system now recognized TB and responded to it as though it had already fought it. In other words, immunity to TB was somehow transferred from one person to the next via the white blood cell extract.

In the years that followed, Dr. Lawrence began to refer to the mystery components of the white blood cell extract as “transfer factor,” as they somehow transferred immunity from one patient to the next. Research during the decades since suggests that the information contained in the molecules Dr. Lawrence called transfer factor can instruct the immune system to do several different things, thereby influencing immunity via different routes, and might actually come in several – three to be exact – dif- ferent sizes. Thus, rather than one factor, there seem to be multiple factors involved in transferring immunity.

Where Do Transfer Factors Come From, Why Are They Made, and How Do They Work?

Transfer factors appear to be short strands of amino acids and perhaps small bits of ribonucleic acid (RNA). It is thought that transfer factors are manufactured within Helper T-cells; cells that coordinate attacks launched by the immune system. Once released by Helper T-cells, transfer factors influence immune system activity in several ways. Their presence is read by other immune cells as an indication that a Th1-mediated immune battle is under way (see Glossary for a definition of Th1 immunity). This results in the birth of new Helper T-cells, Natural Killer cells and macrophages, the conversion of young lymphocytes into Th1-related immune cells, decreased levels of Th2-related cytokines, increased levels of Th1-related cytokines and a general strengthening of the Th1 response.

In addition, like antibodies, transfer factors bind to specific antigens. In the case of transfer factors, the antigens are located on the surface of infected body cells. New Helper T-cells use the presence of antigen-specific transfer factors to focus the immune response against particular threats. By sticking to antigens on infected cells, transfer factors presumably flag the infected cells for destruction by Cytotoxic T-cells.

In essence, transfer factors are the smaller siblings of antibodies, but operate to facilitate the destruction of infected body cells via cell-mediated immunity rather than the labeling of free-floating antigens via antibody- mediated immunity.

Transfer Factors In Disease Treatment and Prevention

In the last half-century, hundreds of published studies have examined the ability of transfer factors to help the body deal with diseases. A search of MedLine for work on transfer factors yields roughly 1000 relevant publications spanning more than 50 years. Of those studies, 600 exam- ined the therapeutic value of transfer factors in disease treatment and prevention. By all accounts, casting a wider net reveals thousands more relevant publications.

Cancer

Nearly 100 studies have been conducted on the effects of transfer factors on cancer, either in patients suffering from cancer, or on cancerous cells in in vitro preparations – such as cancer cells grown in laboratories.

Based on in vitro (laboratory) studies, there can be little doubt that transfer factors facilitate the ability of lymphocytes to destroy cancerous tissue. In 2006, researchers in Mexico examined the ability of extracts taken from white blood cells from cows to prevent breast cancer cells from further division and to facilitate their destruction (Franco-Molina et al, 2006). The experiment was successful, and the researchers demon- strated a dose-dependent effect of the extract on cancer cells, meaning that more extract led to greater destruction of cancer cells. The extract had no impact on normal, healthy cells, only cancerous cells, indicating that the constituents of the extract, including transfer factors, specifically help the immune system deal with pathogens and do not damage healthy tissue.

In 2005, Pineda and colleagues (Pineda et al, 2005) reported on a fascinating study in which they examined the impact of transfer factors on glioma – brain cancer involving glial cells – in rats. Here is what they found:

“TF reduced significantly the tumour size, and increased CD2+, CD4+, CD8+ and NK cell counts, it also increased the percentage of apoptotic [dying] tumour cells”

Dozens of studies have examined the ability of transfer factors to help humans suffering from cancers of various types. In 1996, the Italian researcher Giancarlo Pizza and his colleagues (Pizza et al, 1996) reported on efforts to treat a form of prostate cancer typically unresponsive to conventional therapies. The authors generated transfer factors that bind to antigens on prostate cancer cells and injected them into sick patients once each month. In the words of the authors,

“Fifty patients entered this study and received one intra- muscular injection of 2-5 units of specific TF monthly. Follow-up, ranging from 1 to 9 years, showed that complete remission was achieved in 2 patients, partial remission in 6, and no progression of metastatic disease in 14. The median survival was 126 weeks, higher than the survival rates reported in the literature for patients of the same stage.”

Thus, compared to the expected length of survival for men with this form of prostate cancer, it appears that transfer factor treatment significantly prolonged the life of patients in the study. Though such findings are promis- ing, the lack of a true control group – a group receiving everything else but the transfer factors – makes it difficult to determine the role that transfer factors actually played in the patients’ disease progression.

During that same year, Pizza and colleagues (Pilotti et al, 1996) reported on a study in which a control group was used. Ninety-nine patients with small cell lung cancer were given transfer factors and their survival times were compared to 257 patients with lung cancer who were not given transfer factors. Those given transfer factors survived significantly longer than those not given the treatment.

Herpes viruses

There are eight known herpes viruses, including the herpes simplex viruses (HSV-1 and HSV-2), which cause herpes outbreaks on the face and genitals, the varicella- zoster virus (VZV) that causes chicken pox and shingles, cytomegalovirus (CMV), the Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) that causes mononucleosis, and the HHV-6 A&B viruses now associated with conditions like ME/CFS and MS. Research evaluating the ability of transfer factors to help the immune system overcome these viruses has yielded overwhelmingly positive results.

Khan and colleagues (1981) examined the ability of transfer factors to prevent relapses in 16 subjects with recurrent HSV-1 (cold sores) and HSV-2 (genital) outbreaks. Patients were injected with broad spectrum transfer factors on a weekly or monthly basis. Following treatment, 8 patients stopped having outbreaks altogether while the remaining 8 exhibited a significant reduction in the frequency of outbreaks. Roughly half of all subjects exhibited low T-cell counts at the study onset, and all patients exhibited an increase in T-cell numbers after treatment with transfer factors.

Pizza et al (1996) reported that 44 patients suffering from recurrent HSV outbreaks – 22 with genital out- breaks and 22 with labial (face) outbreaks – responded positively to treatment with transfer factors specific to HSV-1 and HSV-2. Research from the same lab, also published in 1996 (Meduri et al, 1996), demonstrated the ability of HSV-specific transfer factors to reduce the frequency of outbreaks in those whose outbreaks occurred in the eyes.

Currently, there are several prescription drugs avail- able that are capable of reducing the frequency and duration of HSV-1 and HSV-2 outbreaks. The active component of most such drugs is acyclovir. The drugs differ in the amount of acyclovir that they actually deliver to the body in useable form. When taken daily, it reduces the frequency of outbreaks, and the outbreaks that occur are of shorter duration and lesser intensity. When taken only for acute outbreaks, they shorten their duration but have no impact on the frequency of outbreaks throughout the year.

As discussed above, like acyclovir, transfer factors also reduce the frequency and severity of herpes outbreaks. A few studies have directly compared the efficacy of these two approaches against the viruses. Estrada-Parra and colleagues (1995) administered transfer factors to 20 patients suffering from recurrent outbreaks of HSV-1. Most patients had already been treated with acyclovir prior to their inclusion in the study. Broad spectrum transfer factors reduced both the frequency and dura- tion of outbreaks in patients. Their observations led the authors to conclude:

“These results suggest that, at present, TF may be con- sidered the therapeutic agent of choice in the treatment of herpes simplex type 1 disease.”

The findings of the above study are limited by the fact that no direct comparison to acyclovir was actually made. The superiority of transfer factors over acyclovir was inferred from the comparison of current treatment outcomes to the patients’ prior experiences with acyclovir and other drugs.

In 1998, this same group of researchers reported findings from a study in which they directly compared the effectiveness of transfer factors and acyclovir against outbreaks of VZV, the herpes virus that causes chicken pox in kids and shingles in adults. In this study, 28 patients with acute outbreaks of shingles were given either transfer factors or acyclovir for seven days and then monitored for another 14 days. Transfer factors were superior to acyclovir at shortening the duration of the outbreaks. Further, transfer factors, but not acyclovir, increased the number of Helper T-cells and improved other markers of immune function.

Research with lab animals, like that with humans, demonstrates the powerful effects of specific transfer factors against herpes viruses. Viza et al (1985) assessed the efficacy of transfer factors in preventing the deleterious effects of HSV-1 and -2 by adminis- tering HSV-1 and -2 specific transfer factors to mice before exposing them to a normally deadly dose of the viruses. The HSV-specific transfer factor prepara- tion protected the animals from death. Interestingly a transfer factor preparation specific to CMV rather than HSV-1 and -2 did not protect the animals from the lethal dose of HSV.

Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV)

At its core, the pathogenesis of HIV and its progres- sion to AIDS involves a debilitating attack on cells that comprise the Th1-mediated immune response, particularly Helper T-cells. It seems logical to expect that transfer factors could be powerful adjuvants in the treatment of HIV given their ability to trigger increased levels of Helper T-cells, as well as Cytotoxic T-cells, Natural Killer cells and macrophages. Cur- rently, only a few studies have examined the utility of transfer factors in the treatment of HIV/AIDS, but the available data are promising.

Carey et al (1987) assessed the impact of transfer factors from healthy controls on immune system function in nine patients with HIV infections that had progressed to full- blown AIDS. They concluded that:

“... administration of transfer factor to patients with AIDS resulted in partial immune reconstitution. Further studies are indicated to examine the clinical efficacy of this immune response modifier in the treatment of AIDS.”

In 1996, Giancarlo Pizza and colleagues reported on a study in which they administered HIV specific transfer factors, in an oral preparation, to 25 patients infected with HIV. They noted clinical improvements or a stabilization of clinical markers in 20/25 patients.

That same year, Pizza and colleagues (Raise et al, 1996) reported the results of a study in which they directly com- pared groups receiving standard antiviral therapy to those receiving combined antiviral therapy and HIV-specific transfer factors. Patients received either Zidovudine alone or in combination with transfer factors. Those receiving the Zidovudine-transfer factor combination exhibited a larger increase in Cytotoxic T-cell counts and in the levels of inter- leukin-2, a critical immune messenger that promotes the genesis of T-cells and promotes the Th1 immune response in general. Interestingly, however, there were no differences between the groups regarding actual levels of Helper T-cells.

A 2002 report from Russian scientists also suggests that transfer factors could play an important role in the manage- ment of HIV (Granitov et al, 2002). The researchers examined immune cell counts in HIV patients administered a com- mercially available oral transfer factor supplement. Fifteen patients were treated with transfer factors alone. Ten patients in a control group were treated with common antivirals for HIVbutnottransferfactors.Treatmentlastedforonlyseven days and immune measurements were taken one week later.

The majority of subjects in the transfer factor group exhibited increased levels of Helper T-cells and Cyto- toxic T-cells. The pattern of cytokine release was altered in transfer factor-treated subjects in a way that facilitates Th1 immune activity. Levels of circulating immune complexes, which reflect the combination of an antibody and an antigen, were reduced to normal levels in 10 of 15 subjects. In the control group, positive changes were as likely to occur as negative changes. In the words of the authors (Granitov et al, 2002):

“We conclude that transfer factors therapy consider- ably improves the immune status of HIV-infected patients and can be recommended in combating the pathogenesis of the disease. Further studies are needed to determine optimal therapy, the necessity to repeat courses of the treatment and the frequency of therapy needed.”

Two recent studies from researchers at the Center for Biological Research in Havana, Cuba, suggest that transfer factors are capable of directly interfering with HIV repli- cation (Ojeda et al, 2000; Fernandez-Ortega et al, 2004).

Using Transfer Factors to Transfer Immunity

It appears that supplemental transfer factors allow a person not previously exposed to a pathogen to skip the immune response normally required to trigger the creation of transfer factors for that particular pathogen. Transfer factors transfer “memory” for immune battles of the past, no matter in which host those battles originally took place. As far as the transfer factor recipient’s immune system is concerned, it has already been exposed to the pathogen, and thus reacts promptly if the pathogen ever enters the body. By preparing the immune system for a pathogen before it enters the body, transfer factors remove the element of surprise critical to infestation by infectious agents and prevent cellular invasion by viruses, mycobacteria and cell wall deficient bacteria.

Let us look at an interesting example in which the ability of transfer factors to transfer immunity was used to protect patients from contracting an illness. In 1980, Steele and colleagues used transfer factors in an effort to immunize young leukemia patients against chicken pox, caused by VZV. In the words of the authors:

“Sixty-one patients with leukemia and no immunity to chickenpox were given dialyzable transfer factor or placebo and followed for 12 to 30 months in a double-blind trial designed to examine the clinical efficacy of transfer factor. Sixteen patients in the transfer-factor group and 15 in the placebo group were exposed to varicella zoster, and most of them had a rise in antibody titer. Chickenpox devel- oped in 13 of 15 exposed patients in the placebo group but in only one of 16 in the transfer-factor group.”

Thus, when patients with leukemia and no resistance to chicken pox are treated with transfer factors for the chicken pox virus, almost everyone develops immunity to the virus.

Availability of Transfer Factors

Until quite recently, transfer factors were only used in hospital settings, most outside of the U.S. They were cus- tom-made for patients from human blood cells in a labora- tory and were not available to the public or to most MDs. In the last decade, several companies began using patented processes to extract transfer factors from cow colostrum and chicken eggs. Such extracts are now widely available. The ability to obtain transfer factors from colostrum and eggs is a remarkable development with the potential to significantly alter the future of disease treatment and prevention.

Summary

Research strongly suggests that transfer factors are effective for helping the body beat an array of disease states that involve faulty or overloaded immune function and can prevent infec- tions before they occur. Transfer factors seem to prime the body for battle against intracellular pathogens, like viruses, mycobacteria and cell wall deficient bacteria, and help quash infections before they can take root. Transfer factors turn non-immune-related white blood cells into immune-related white blood cells and stimulate the birth of new Helper and Cytotoxic T-cells, Natural Killer cells and macrophages. After stimulating an increase in T-cell counts, transfer factors orient these new T-cells toward a target, presumably by influencing the nature of the antigen receptors expressed by the cells. Fur- ther, by binding to antigens on infected body cells, transfer fac- tors paint infected cells for destruction by Cytotoxic T-cells.

Given in supplement form, they can be used to help the body beat infections. Given before infections occur, they act in a manner similar to vaccines and protect the body from becoming infected. While antibodies are at the heart of antibody-mediated (Th2) immunity, transfer factors hold the key to cell-mediated (Th1) immunity.

This article is comprised of excerpts from the book, A Guide to Transfer Factors and Immune System Health, 2nd Edition (North Charleston, SC: BookSurge Publishing, 2009) by Aaron White, PhD.

Before joining the National Institutes of Health last fall, Dr. White was an assistant professor in the Department of Psychiatry, Division of Medical Psychology, at Duke University Medical Center.

Glossary

Th1 response: Immune response triggered by Th1 Helper T-cells. Natural Killer cells and Cytotoxic T-cells are used to identify and destroy cells infected with viruses and bacteria. Also important for fighting cancer cells, fungi and parasites. The pathway to cell- mediated immunity. Suppressed in people with many immune- related conditions and infections, like Lyme and HIV.

Th2 response: Immune response triggered by Th2 Helper T-cells. B-cells are used to produce antibodies which label extracellular pathogens for destructon. Pathway to humoral or antibody- mediated immunity. Overactivity here involved in allergies and autoimmune conditions. The response primarily evoked by standard vaccines.

Transfer factors: Strands of amino acids and RNA released by Th1 Helper T-cells. Signal other Helper T-cells to direct resources toward Th1 response. Like antibodies, they bind to antigens, but on the surface of infected body cells rather than on free- floating pathogens. Thought to label infected cells for destruction by Cytotoxic T-cells. Small enough to be absorbed orally. Can transfer immune information from one person or other animal to another. Their importance for disease treatment and prevention could be on par with antibiotics and vaccines.

http://researchednutritionals.com/FactSheets/Explore%20Article%20-%20Transfer%20Factor%20Research%20by%20Aaron%20White%20PhD.pdf

10 Reasons We Need Dennis Kucinich in Congress

2012-01-28T08:02:00.002-05:00

10 Reasons We Need Dennis Kucinich in Congress

By Joseph Connelly

VN Publisher and Editor-in-Chief Joseph Connelly offers 10 reasons why he supports Rep. Dennis Kucinich.

With the 2010 US Census came the usual reapportionment of Congressional seats, shifting the number of representatives each state is allocated based on the state’s change in population. The state of Ohio, from where our nation’s lone vegan Representative hails, is losing two seats (as is New York), while Florida is gaining two and Texas gaining four. The Ohio powers-that-be have combined two Cleveland-area districts, both of which lean heavily Democratic, into one.

Rep. Dennis Kucinich represents one of those two districts, and he is currently in a very tight primary re-election campaign. The Ohio primary takes place on Tuesday, March 6, and it is a fair bet that the winner of the Democratic primary will win the Congressional seat this fall.

In other words, the election that takes place six weeks from today is the real election. I believe it is important to have a voice in Washington standing up for many of the same issues I believe in, and that is why I’m supporting Congressman Dennis Kucinich in his re-election bid.

If you aren’t familiar with Dennis’ record, take a few minutes to get to know him and his policies a little better:

1. Dennis is the leading spokesperson for peace in the Congress. He is the author of the Department of Peace legislation, and he led Democrats in opposing the Bush Iraq War resolution. He is also the recent winner of the Peace Abbey’s Courage of Conscience Award for his tireless advocacy of non-violent conflict resolution in international affairs. Dennis wants to change the US role in the world from one of aggression and dominance to one of cooperation.

2. Dennis is the leading advocate of protecting the globe through reducing carbon emissions; transitioning from coal, oil, and nuclear to wind and solar micro-technologies; and tapping the inventive genius of NASA for environmental solutions through new technologies.

3. As far as I know, Dennis is the only vegan in Congress, his diet and lifestyle an extension of his commitment to nonviolence, compassion, and sustainability. He is also a major spokesperson for supporting locally grown food through regional farm-to-market strategies, and the author of a bill to label and safety test all GMO products.

4. Dennis is married to Elizabeth Kucinich, one of our nation’s leading advocates for diet-based health solutions, as well as a well-known animal-rights activist. Elizabeth is Government Affairs Director for the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine.

5. As the United Nations Representative for Parliamentarians for Nuclear Non-Proliferation and Disarmament, Dennis is a leading voice for nuclear disarmament.

6. Dennis is author of Constitutional Amendment HJ Res. 100, which would forbid all private-money contributions in federal elections.

7. He’s also the driving force behind HR 2990, the National Emergency Employment Defense Act (NEED Act), which would create millions of private sector jobs and rebuild America’s infrastructure while paying off the national debt, all without raising taxes.

8. Along with Rep. John Conyers (D-MI), Dennis is author of HR 676, the bill to create a universal, single-payer, not-for-profit-health care system.

9. And he’s the author of the Universal Prekindergarten Act, which would make it possible for all children, ages three to five, to have access to full-time pre-kindergarten education.

10. And finally, Dennis is a proponent of Universal College Education, which would enable every young person to attend a public college or university tuition-free.

These are just 10 of the reasons I support Dennis Kucinich for Congress. To learn more about Dennis and support his campaign, please visit his website. Do we really want to imagine a Congress without his voice?

VN Publisher Joseph Connelly first interviewed Rep. Dennis Kucinich in 2003 when he was running for US president.

http://vegnews.com/articles/page.do?pageId=4127&catId=1

Immunological abnormalities as potential biomarkers in Chronic Fatigue Syndrome/Myalgic Encephalomyelitis

2012-01-27T19:03:00.000-05:00

Immunological abnormalities as potential biomarkers in Chronic Fatigue Syndrome/Myalgic Encephalomyelitis

Ekua W Brenu^1,², Mieke L van Driel^1,², Don R Staines^3,¹, Kevin J Ashton², Sandra B Ramos², James Keane², Nancy G Klimas⁴ and Sonya M Marshall-Gradisnik^1,²^*

*Corresponding author: Sonya M Marshall-Gradisnik smarshal@bond.edu.au

Author Affiliations

¹Population Health and Neuroimmunology Unit, Faculty of Health Science and Medicine, Bond University, Robina, Queensland, Australia

²Faculty of Health Science and Medicine, Bond University, Robina, Queensland, Australia

³Queensland Health, Gold Coast Public Health Unit, Southport, Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia

⁴Miami Veterans Affairs Medical Center, Miami, FL, USA

For all author emails, please log on.

Journal of Translational Medicine 2011, 9:81 doi:10.1186/1479-5876-9-81

The electronic version of this article is the complete one and can be found online at:http://www.translational-medicine.com/content/9/1/81

Received:	1 April 2011
Accepted:	28 May 2011
Published:	28 May 2011

This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

Abstract

Background

Chronic Fatigue Syndrome/Myalgic Encephalomyelitis (CFS/ME) is characterised by severe prolonged fatigue, and decreases in cognition and other physiological functions, resulting in severe loss of quality of life, difficult clinical management and high costs to the health care system. To date there is no proven pathomechanism to satisfactorily explain this disorder. Studies have identified abnormalities in immune function but these data are inconsistent. We investigated the profile of markers of immune function (including novel markers) in CFS/ME patients.

Methods

We included 95 CFS/ME patients and 50 healthy controls. All participants were assessed on natural killer (NK) and CD8⁺T cell cytotoxic activities, Th1 and Th2 cytokine profile of CD4⁺T cells, expression of vasoactive intestinal peptide receptor 2 (VPACR2), levels of NK phenotypes (CD56^brightand CD56^dim) and regulatory T cells expressing FoxP3 transcription factor.

Results

Compared to healthy individuals, CFS/ME patients displayed significant increases in IL-10, IFN-γ, TNF-α, CD4⁺CD25⁺T cells, FoxP3 and VPACR2 expression. Cytotoxic activity of NK and CD8⁺T cells and NK phenotypes, in particular the CD56^brightNK cells were significantly decreased in CFS/ME patients. Additionally granzyme A and granzyme K expression were reduced while expression levels of perforin were significantly increased in the CFS/ME population relative to the control population. These data suggest significant dysregulation of the immune system in CFS/ME patients.

Conclusions

Our study found immunological abnormalities which may serve as biomarkers in CFS/ME patients with potential for an application as a diagnostic tool.

http://www.translational-medicine.com/content/9/1/81

Skin cancer rates in Spain rise alarmingly

2012-01-27T18:45:00.000-05:00

Skin cancer rates in Spain rise alarmingly

JULY 2, 2011 • HEALTH • 0 COMMENTS

(1 votes, average: 5.00 out of 5)

THE rate of skin cancer is alarmingly still on the rise.

Two out of every 100,000 Spaniards will now develop the most dangerous strain of melanoma each year – a seven per cent rise in just one year.

Most worryingly of all, victims appear to be getting younger, with those in their late twenties the most affected group.

Melanoma is an extremely dangerous condition and requires early detection for successful treatment.

Mortality rates are at their highest for those over 50.

According to Miguel Sanchez Viera, the head of the skin cancer unit at USP San Camilio Hospital, if the condition is left undetected, the cancer can spread quickly making the chance for success considerably slimmer.

Meanwhile, sun creams with a factor of at least 30 are being highly recommended by experts as a way to protect yourself from the damaging rays of the sun.

It has emerged that creams with a factor of less than 15 will require the removal of the word ‘protection’ from the package.

The FDA recently announced that sunscreens with a protection factor of less than 15 will have to have a warning label that only recognises the cream’s ability to protect against sunburn, not cancer and aging.

According to recent research by top doctors, sun cream with a factor of 30-plus is the only way to prevent the risk of skin cancer.

http://www.theolivepress.es/spain-news/2011/07/02/skin-cancer-rates-increase-spai/

If A Lot of People in North Carolina Start to Feel Sick...

2012-01-27T18:41:00.000-05:00

World’s first “Super Wi-Fi” commercial network launches in North Carolina

JANUARY 26, 2012BY MIKE FLACY

While the debate over white space spectrum continues to go back and forth between Internet companies and broadcasters, one town in North Carolina is pushing forward with Wi-Fi service in public parks.

As mentioned within a press release earlier today, the first commercial ”Super Wi-Fi” network was launched in Wilmington, North Carolina. Called the “first FCC-approved smart city”, the city is utilizing the white space spectrum located between TV channels to provide wireless access across a public portion of Hugh MacRae park. Due to the lower frequency band, these Wi-Fi signals can travel through varied terrain including buildings and trees. This allows public organizations to setup equipment without the need for line-of-sight. However, speeds are reduced to 10 to 15 Mbps due to the changing landscape. While many current devices can access the network when in close range of the network hardware, commercial devices built for white space access are still at least a year away.

In addition to covering the city park with a free Wi-Fi network, city officials are also using the network to monitor a popular city garden through four video cameras. Some of the cameras can be accessed by the public to check out the garden online and other cameras will be used to monitor the parking lot for security. The city has further plans to utilize the white space spectrum to manage public lighting, water quality monitors, flood valves and river water sensors. By using cameras to monitor areas where flooding may occur, they can respond quicker to the situation.

While residents of Wilmington, North Carolina will still have to rely on broadband Internet services for now, potential speeds of the white space spectrum can reach up to 22 Mbps per channel with a range up to 62 miles. The company in charge of the rollout, Spectrum Bridge, believes that the white space spectrum will eventually be used to manage other city problems such as traffic congestion and energy usage. While the National Association of Broadcasters has frequently argued that allowing consumers to access the white space spectrum will cause havoc on network broadcasts, advocates of using the spectrum want to bring wireless access to rural, under-served areas across the United States.

http://www.digitaltrends.com/computing/worlds-first-super-wi-fi-commercial-network-launches-in-north-carolina/

The Microwave Factor

Jake Reilly's 'Amish Project:' 90 Days Without a Cell Phone, Email and Social Media

Jake Reilly's 'Amish Project:' 90 Days Without a Cell Phone, Email and Social Media

College Student Drops Social Media, Reconnects with Romance

Yes, Your Cell Phone Is That Bad For You

Yes, Your Cell Phone Is That Bad For You [INFOGRAPHIC]

Elektronik i soveværelset ødelægger din nattesøvn

Soveværelset bør kun bruges til søvn og sex, viser ny forskning.

Columbia University Law School – Wireless Hazards Panel

Columbia University Law School – Wireless Hazards Panel

Wireless Hazards PanelAn Emerging Public Health and Environmental Issue Tuesday,December 1st – 12:10-1:15 p.m. – JGH 104 (Jerome Greene Hall)

EMF Research Studies

Group calls for moratorium on 'dangerous' smart meters

Group calls for moratorium on 'dangerous' smart meters

Taverham woman pledges to leave her home of over 45 years if phone mast gets the go-ahead

Taverham woman pledges to leave her home of over 45 years if phone mast gets the go-ahead

Ron Paul 2012 New Ad Campaign

One Man`s Tragic Story

Research on Transfer Factors in Disease Treatment and Prevention

10 Reasons We Need Dennis Kucinich in Congress

10 Reasons We Need Dennis Kucinich in Congress

Immunological abnormalities as potential biomarkers in Chronic Fatigue Syndrome/Myalgic Encephalomyelitis

Immunological abnormalities as potential biomarkers in Chronic Fatigue Syndrome/Myalgic Encephalomyelitis

Abstract

Background

Methods

Results

Conclusions

Skin cancer rates in Spain rise alarmingly

Skin cancer rates in Spain rise alarmingly

If A Lot of People in North Carolina Start to Feel Sick...

World’s first “Super Wi-Fi” commercial network launches in North Carolina

Wireless Hazards Panel
An Emerging Public Health and Environmental Issue Tuesday,
December 1st – 12:10-1:15 p.m. – JGH 104 (Jerome Greene Hall)