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Cell Phones Will Not Give You Brain Tumors
Is Earth's Magnetic Field Failing Us?
In the 1970s, You May Wear Your Phone - Thanks to Radiation! (1960)

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thexpert is no ones lapdog
12/05/09

In reply to Cell Phones Will Not Give You Brain Tumors
SO the scandinavian men with tumors along the side of the head EXACTLY where the antennae goes only had face and scalp cancer, and that's not important because it's not the brain.

NEW REPORT: Bullets don't (always) cause diarrhea.
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twophrasebark
12/05/09

In reply to Cell Phones Will Not Give You Brain Tumors

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Mount_Prion
12/05/09

In reply to Cell Phones Will Not Give You Brain Tumors
This is because everybody is holding their phone in their pocket and getting testicular/ovarian cancer instead.
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Jrsy Devil's Advocate®
12/05/09

In reply to Cell Phones Will Not Give You Brain Tumors
"suggests that [either] the induction period for brain tumours associated with mobile phone use exceeds five to 10 years, the increased risk of brain tumours associated with mobile phone use in this population is too small to be observed, the risk is restricted to subgroups of brain tumors or mobile phone users, or that there is no increased risk associated with mobile phone use."

Sounds like they waffled a little on that conclusion.
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Dr Emilio Lizardo
12/05/09

@Jrsy Devil's Advocate®: It's impossible to prove a negative. That's why I (and many others) cringed when some senator a while back complained that nobody had yet done a study to prove that cell phones cause brain tumors.

You can never conclusively prove that cell phones do not cause brain tumors, you can only try (and fail) to show that they do. What they did was quite eloquently list the potential ways that cell phones could cause brain cancer that this study could not find. All of them are unlikely so it is unlikely (in the extreme) that cell phones increase the risk of brain tumors.
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Jrsy Devil's Advocate®
12/05/09

@Dr Emilio Lizardo: Sounds like another study is needed, only longer term. Say the next 20 years.

Any volunteers?
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ignignoktnerr
12/05/09

In reply to Cell Phones Will Not Give You Brain Tumors
Furthermore, it was determined that there is a direct link between the number of bluetooth headsets currently in use and the rise in general douchebaggery worldwide.
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pitpat
12/05/09

@ignignoktnerr:
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RandomFrequentFlierDent
12/05/09

@pitpat: So does Lobot's giant bluetooth-esque headpiece mean that he's a ginormous douchbag? Or not a douchbag at all?
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phoghat
12/05/09

@ignignoktnerr:
Douchebaggery is directionally proportional to the use of a Blutooth headset and inversely proportional to the headset's size.
Ergo if while walking down the street, you really appear to be talking to yourself like some Night Train swilling wino, you are a douch .
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phoghat
12/05/09

@RandomFrequentFlierDent:
less of a douchebag
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lightninglouie
12/05/09

@RandomFrequentFlierDent: The upside of Lobot's headpiece is that he never talks at all. I'd call that a mitigating factor.
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Jesse Astle
12/05/09

@pitpat: Lobot's a total douchebag.
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strideo
12/07/09

@Jesse Astle: Lobot was cool, it was Lando who was being the douchebag.
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Jesse Astle
12/09/09

@strideo: It was douchebaggery by association. Few people know that douchebaggery is contagious.
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tamahome
12/05/09

In reply to Cell Phones Will Not Give You Brain Tumors
Dr. Oz had an episode about this. He said some studies show a long term effect.
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Dr Emilio Lizardo
12/05/09

@tamahome: Doctor Oz is a cardiothoracic surgeon. As such, his opinions on neurology or oncology are about as valid as his opinions on my dog's hip dysplasia.
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lightninglouie
12/05/09

@tamahome: But what about Dr. Leo Spaceman? He's my favorite TV doctor.
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tamahome
12/05/09

@Dr Emilio Lizardo: He had an expert on his show that said that if you take the studies with the best methods and the longest duration, there appears to be a link. I think it's wise to take precautions. The effect wears off with the square of the distance, so you don't have to hold the phone that far away.
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TheAardvark
12/05/09

In reply to Cell Phones Will Not Give You Brain Tumors
Forget diamonds:

A crazy technology/health scare theory is forever.
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OW-Holmes:Bringer of Fear
12/05/09

In reply to Cell Phones Will Not Give You Brain Tumors
There was also this study awhile ago.

[gizmodo.com]

Meanwhile the connection between zombieism and cellphones is still not yet clear.
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twophrasebark
12/05/09

In reply to Cell Phones Will Not Give You Brain Tumors
So if one study contradicts the other, doesn't that just mean we're back at the beginning and have no absolutely no idea?
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Lassus
12/05/09

@twophrasebark: BURN THE WITCH!
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phoghat
12/05/09

@twophrasebark:
What do you call it if you poke a dear's eyes out:
No eye deer
Cut off his legs:
Still no eye deer
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Dr Emilio Lizardo
12/05/09

@twophrasebark: No, it does not mean that. Not all studies are equal. A huge, national, prospective population based trial is much better evidence than a small retrospective local review.
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twophrasebark
12/05/09

@Dr Emilio Lizardo: You think they reliably studied 16 million people? Now we're comparing apples and oranges. Statistical studies versus clinical studies?

This is all BS on top of BS. There's no way to determine wtf is going on yet.
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Edited by twophrasebark at 12/05/09 10:24 AM twophrasebark was starred twophrasebark was unstarred

Dr Emilio Lizardo
12/05/09

@twophrasebark: Yes, I believe they did it as well as it can be done. The scandinavians are so far ahead of the US in clinical trials that you can hardly see them from here. Part of the price they pay for nationalized health care is mandatory participation in clinical trials where one is available. They are the only ones who could do this study. Additionally, they have a very high rate of cell phone use so it is an excellent population to study.

I don't know what the participation rate is in clinical trials in Sweden off the top of my head, but it is better than the 2 - 3% that US cancer trials get.
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twophrasebark
12/05/09

@Dr Emilio Lizardo: It does not appear to be a clinical trial. It appears to be a survey and statistical study of adults in four countries.

"Mike Dolan, executive director of MOA, said: "The research reported no increase in incidence rates of brain tumours during a period when mobile phone use increased in Nordic countries."

This was a statistical study, not a clinical trial.
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Edited by twophrasebark at 12/05/09 1:32 PM twophrasebark was starred twophrasebark was unstarred

Dr Emilio Lizardo
12/05/09

@twophrasebark: I see your point, but this is a matter of semantics. To a researcher, a prospective observational population based study qualifies as a clinical trial since the proper rules for data collection, statistical analysis and protection of the rights of the study group still apply.
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♠ Final ♠
12/05/09

In reply to Cell Phones Will Not Give You Brain Tumors
It's not ionizing radiation. Xray and Gamma can both knock loose electrons and causing dna damage. That's what results in cancer. We would have seen cancer in people that live near radio or tv towers with cancer if nonionizing radiation caused cancer a long time ago if this were the case.
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twophrasebark
12/05/09

@♠ Final ♠: "We would have seen cancer in people that live near radio or tv towers with cancer if nonionizing radiation caused cancer a long time ago if this were the case."

I thought there was some anecdotal evidence that living near these transmission towers can cause increased incidence of cancer.
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Franknbeans
12/05/09

@twophrasebark: If you mean urban ledgends about them causing cancer, yes. If you mean if any of the many studies conducted to try and prove that link, then no.
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twophrasebark
12/05/09

@Franknbeans:

I would rate it somewhere higher than urban legend but lower than causal link. I do believe that people's anecdotal reports of headaches and nausea from living near such equipment cannot be dismissed out of hand.

As for cancer, well, I wouldn't live too close to one of these things. Would you? Just sincerely wondering.
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Franknbeans
12/05/09

@twophrasebark: You know, I will give you the headaches and nausea, there is an actual recordable force at work here, but do I believe that non-ionizing radiation from radio or tv towers can ever cause cancer? no.
That is why I will continue to use my cell phone with impunity.
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Dr Emilio Lizardo
12/05/09

@twophrasebark: Data is not the plural of anecdote.
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twophrasebark
12/05/09

@Dr Emilio Lizardo:

I never said it was.
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Dr Emilio Lizardo
12/05/09

@twophrasebark: In my defense you used the word twice: "anecdotal evidence" which is practically an oxymoron and "anecdotal reports."

Maybe you didn't really mean to use it to truly mean "evidence" but it gave me an opportunity to use one of my favorite truisms.
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twophrasebark
12/05/09

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The Curse of Millhaven
12/05/09

In reply to Cell Phones Will Not Give You Brain Tumors
They will, however, turn your teeth blue.
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ShejaliPavo
10/29/08

In reply to Is Earth's Magnetic Field Failing Us?
Funny that one of the signs of the apocalypse is that the sun will rise in the west...a pole flop would kinda fulfill that one..."In the face of inescapable doom, one should simply find a good chair a good wine and a good spot to watch the end of the world. In short, just live your life and laugh in the face of death...it confuses him."
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