Electromagnetic hypersensitivity ( EHS ) is the claimed sensitivity to the electromagnetic field, which is associated with negative symptoms. EHS has no scientific basis and is not a recognized medical diagnosis. Claims are characterized by "a variety of non-specific symptoms, which affect individuals associated with exposure to electromagnetic fields".
Those self-described with EHS report adverse reactions to the electromagnetic field at an intensity well below the maximum level permitted by international radiation safety standards. The majority of provocative trials to date have found that complainants can not distinguish between exposure and non-exposure to electromagnetic fields. A systematic review in 2005 showed no convincing scientific evidence for symptoms caused by electromagnetic fields. Since then, several double-blind experiments have shown that people who report electromagnetic hypersensitivity can not detect the presence of electromagnetic fields and possibly report poor health after false exposure because they follow the exposure of the original electromagnetic field, suggesting the cause. in this case being a nocebo effect.
A 2005 review by the UK Health Protection Agency and a 2006 systematic review each evaluated evidence for a variety of medical, psychological, behavioral, and alternative treatments for the EHS and each found that the evidence base was finite and unpublished, but the best evidence of behavioral therapy cognitive preferred. In 2005, WHO recommended that people who claim EHS be evaluated to determine whether they have a medical condition that may cause the person's symptoms to be associated with EHS, that they have a psychological evaluation, and that the person's environment is evaluated for problems such as air pollution or possible noise cause problems.
Some people who feel sensitive to electromagnetic fields may try to reduce their exposure or use alternative medicine. Government agencies have applied false advertising claims against companies selling devices to protect against EM radiation.
Video Electromagnetic hypersensitivity
Signs and symptoms
There are no specific symptoms associated with EHS claims and the reported symptoms vary widely among individuals. They include headaches, fatigue, stress, sleep disorders, piercing skin, burning sensations and rashes, aches and pains in muscles and many other health problems. In severe cases such symptoms can be a real and sometimes crippling problem for the affected person, causing psychological distress. There is no scientific basis for connecting these symptoms with exposure to electromagnetic fields.
The prevalence of several symptoms that are reported geographically or culturally depends and does not imply a "causal relationship between symptoms and associated exposures". Many of the symptoms are reported as overlapping with other syndromes known as symptom-based conditions, functional somatic syndromes, and IEI (idiopathic environmental idiopathy).
Those who report electromagnetic hypersensitivity will usually describe different levels of susceptibility to electric fields, magnetic fields, and various frequencies of electromagnetic waves. The devices involved include fluorescent lights and low-energy lights, mobile phones, cordless/portable phones, and WiFi. A 2001 survey found that people who diagnosed themselves as EHS most often attributed their symptoms to mobile phone base stations (74%), followed by cell phones (36%), cordless phones (29%), and power lines (27%). Surveys of electromagnetic hypersensitivity patients have not been able to find a consistent pattern for these symptoms.
Maps Electromagnetic hypersensitivity
Cause
Much of the blinded conscious provocative research has failed to show a correlation between exposure and symptoms, leading to suggestions that psychological mechanisms play a role in causing or worsening the symptoms of EHS. In 2010, Rubin et al. published a follow-up to their 2005 review, bringing a total of 46 double-blind trials and 1175 individuals with self-diagnosed hypersensitivity. Both reviews found no solid evidence to support the hypothesis that electromagnetic exposure causes EHS, as do other studies. They also concluded that the study supports the role of nocebo effects in triggering acute symptoms in those with EHS.
Several other types of research have shown evidence for symptoms at levels of non-thermal electromagnetic exposure. A 2010 review of ten studies on neurobehavioral and cancer outcomes near mobile base stations found eight with increased prevalence, including sleep disturbances and headaches. Since 1962, the effects of microwave hearing or tinnitus have been shown from exposure to radio frequencies at levels under significant heating. Studies during the 1960s in Europe and Russia claim to show effects on humans, especially the nervous system, from low-energy RF radiation; the study was disputed at the time.
Other studies on sensitivity have seen therapeutic procedures using non-thermal electromagnetic exposure, genetic factors, changes in mast cells, oxidative stress, protein expression and voltage-gated calcium channels. The release of mercury from dental amalgam and heavy metal toxicity has also been implicated in the effects of exposure and symptoms. Other lines of study have become the nature of hyper-sensitivity or intolerance and the various environmental exposures that may be associated with it. About 80% of people with electromagnetic intolerance diagnosed alone also claim intolerance to low levels of chemical exposure.
Diagnosis
Electromagnetic hypersensitivity is not an accepted diagnosis; medically there is no case definition or clinical practice guidelines and no specific tests to identify it, nor is there an agreed definition for clinical research.
Electromagnetic hypersensitivity complaints can cover organic disease or psychiatry. The diagnosis of underlying conditions involves the investigation and identification of possible known medical causes of any observed phenomenon. It may require both a thorough medical evaluation to identify and treat specific conditions that may be responsible for symptoms, and psychological evaluation to identify alternative psychiatric/psychological conditions that may be responsible or contributing to symptoms.
Symptoms can also occur by imagining that the exposure causes damage, an example of a nocebo effect. Research has shown that symptom reports are more closely related to the belief that one is being exposed than to actual exposure.
Management
A systematic review of 2006 and a 2005 review by the UK Health Protection Agency, each evaluating evidence for various medical, psychological, behavioral, and alternative treatments for EHS and each finding that the evidence base is limited and can not be generalized. The conclusions of the 2006 review stated: "The evidence base on treatment options for electromagnetic hypersensitivity is limited and further research is needed before definitive clinical recommendations can be made.However, the best evidence currently available suggests that cognitive behavioral therapy is effective for patients who report being hypersensitive to terrain weak electromagnetic. "
In 2005, WHO recommended that people who claim EHS be evaluated to determine whether they have a medical condition that may cause the person's symptoms to be associated with EHS, that they have a psychological evaluation, and that the person's environment is evaluated for problems such as air pollution or possible noise cause problems.
Prevalence
The prevalence of electromagnetic hypersensitivity is claimed to have been estimated between several cases per million to 5% of the population depending on location and condition definition.
In 2002, a questionnaire survey of 2,072 people in California found that the prevalence of self-reported electromagnetic hypersensitivity in the sample group was 3% (95% CI 2.8-3.68%), with electromagnetic hypersensitivity defined as "allergic or highly sensitive. to get near electrical equipment, computers, or power lines "(response rate 58.3%).
A similar questionnaire survey from the same year in Stockholm County (Sweden) found a 1.5% prevalence of self-reported electromagnetic hypersensitivity in the sample group, with electromagnetic hypersensitivity defined as "hypersensitivity or allergy to electric or magnetic fields" (response rate 73% ).
A 2004 survey in Switzerland found a 5% prevalence of electromagnetic hypersensitivity claimed in the 2.048 sample group.
In 2007, a UK survey aimed at a randomly selected group of 20,000 people found a 4% prevalence for symptoms caused by electromagnetic exposure.
A group of scientists also tried to estimate the number of people who reported "subjective symptoms" of the electromagnetic field for the European Commission. In the words of the HPA review, they conclude that "differences in prevalence are at least partly due to differences in available information and media attention surrounding electromagnetic hypersensitivity existing in different countries." Similar views have been expressed by other commentators.
Society and culture
In 2010, cell tower operators in South Africa revealed at a public meeting that towers inhabited nearby residents who blamed their current EHS symptoms had been shut down for six weeks before the meeting, making it a very unlikely cause of EHS symptoms..
In February 2014, the British Advertising Standards Authority found that claims for losses from electromagnetic radiation, made in product advertisements, were not proven and misleading.
People have filed lawsuits to try to win damages because of the danger claimed from electromagnetic radiation. In 2012, a New Mexico judge dismissed a lawsuit in which one person sued his neighbor, claiming to have been harmed by EM radiation from his neighbor's cordless phone, dimmer switch, charger, Wi-Fi and other devices. The plaintiff carries the testimony of his physician, who also believes that he has an EHS, and a person who represents himself as a neurotoxicologist; judges did not find any of their reliable testimonies. In 2015, the parents of a boy at a school in Southborough, Massachusetts alleged that the school's wi-fi made the boy ill.
In November 2015, a depressed teenage girl in England committed suicide. Suicide was associated with EHS by his parents and was taken by tabloids and EHS supporters.
Some people who feel they are sensitive to electromagnetic fields self-medicate by trying to reduce their exposure to electromagnetic sources by avoiding sources of exposure, breaking or disconnecting electrical devices, protecting or filtering away or residence, and alternative treatments. In Sweden, some municipalities grant incompetence grants to people claiming to own an EHS to perform deductions done in their homes even though public health authorities do not recognize EHS as a true medical condition; the towns in Halland do not provide such funds and these decisions are challenged and enforced in court.
Zone of the National Radio of the United States is an area where wireless signals are restricted for scientific research purposes, and some people who believe they have EHS have moved there looking for help.
Gro Harlem Brundtland, former Norwegian prime minister and Director-General of the World Health Organization, claimed to be suffering from EHS. In 2015 he says that he's been sensitive for 25 years.
In the fictitious television show of Saul's Better Call, Charles â € Å"Chuckâ € McGill is described as experiencing EHS symptoms. In the episode of Alpine Shepherd Boy , a skeptical doctor secretly operates a switch that controls electronics on Chuck's hospital bed. This does not affect the symptoms, indicating that the electromagnetic hypersensitivity is not genuine.
See also
- Arthur Firstenberg
- Bioelectromagnetics
- Electromagnetic radiation and health
- List of diseases in question
- Electronic devices and wireless health
References
External Links
- Electromagnetic Energy and Health Radiofrequency: Research Needs from Australian Radiation Protection and Nuclear Security Agency (ARPANSA)
Source of the article : Wikipedia
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