In this paper valid points will be presented to refute the statement made by Dr. Ronald Herberman, Director of the University of Pittsburgh Cancer Institute, to his faculty and staff on July 21, 2008. “Limit cell phone use because of the potential risk of cancer” (Reyes, 2009). Herberman based his claim on unpublished data and stated “it takes too long to get answers from science and I think people should take action now” (Reyes, 2009).
Herberman quoted one study that was published in a paper by the Royal Society in London, which found that “pre-teen and teenagers who started using cell phones before reaching the age of 20 were five times more likely to develop brain cancer by the age of 29 than the ones who did not use a cell phone” (Reyes, 2009). Some experts labeled that study as being “biased and flawed”. My Position Besides the University of Pittsburgh, there were no other major academic cancer-research institutions that have sounded the same alarm that using a cellular phone will cause cancer.
It was also found that Herberman had no expertise on this subject and was unnecessarily scaring people. According to the NCI’s (National Cancer Institute) data, it shows that in despite the increase in cellular phone users, brain tumor rates have been steady. Cell phone users have increased from 110 million users in 2000 to 208 million users in 2005. My Refutation Nine studies were looked at in a 2008 University of Utah analysis – some studies that was cited by Herberman was also included – with thousands of patients who had brain tumors and they concluded that the risk of brain tumors increasing among cellular-phone-users was none at all.
Studies completed in France and Norway came to the same conclusion in 2007. “If there is a risk from these products – and at this point we do not know that there is – it is probably very small,” the FDA (Food and Drug Administration) says. The cell phone industry, of course, says that there is products are safe. “The significant weight of the evidence demonstrates that radiofrequency energy in mobile phones poses no credible health risks,” says Motorola spokeswoman Paula Thornton Greer.
“Although there have been reports of negative health effects from low levels of radio frequency energy, these reports have not been replicated or confirmed” (Childs, 2009). However, “research and anecdotes have suggested a number of other means by which cell phones may adversely affect health – and possibly not in the way we might think” (Childs, 2009). These health issues can be bacteria caused by not cleaning their cell phones that can be treated with antibiotics. It was also found that cell phone showed a significant deterioration in the quality of driving a vehicle.
When walking and talking on a cell phone their attention to traffic is lowered and they stand the chance of getting hit by a car. Another health issue is to the thumb from texting, causing sores and blisters. Those users with allergies to certain metal can have additional side-effect in the form of contact dermatitis. The noise-related side effect to the ear from using an earpiece with a high volume, this is easily remedied by just by turning down the volume. Conclusion Almost in every case, the beliefs that cell phone usage can lead to or cause a higher risk of brain cancer have been proven to be false by scientific investigation.
Scientific evidence did not indicate any harmful health consequences associated with contact to radio frequency energy from cell phones. Users of cell phones who were unnecessarily scared or think that their cell phones are cooking their brains can put their mind at ease knowing it is not so. References Reyes, M. D. , T. M. (2009).
The Philippine Star. Are Cell Phones Dangerous to Your Health? Retrieved from http://www. philstar. com/ArticlePrinterFriendly. aspx? articleId=515660 Childs, D. (2009). ABC News Medical Unit. 7 Surprising Ways Cell Phones Affect Your Health.
Retrieved from http://abcnews. go. com/Health/WellnessNews/story? id=7017768&page=3 As you most likely know cancer is a very mysterious and deadly disease, but what is cancer really? Cancer is a disease which forms when abnormal cells divide without control. These cells are able to invade other tissues. There are over one hundred di? erent types of cancer. Each di? erent type of cancer is classi? ed by the type of cell that is initially a? ected. Although there are many great advancements of technology to treat and prevent cancer, cancer is still the number one leading cause of death for people under the age of eighty ? ve. In fact, in the United States, one out of every four people die from cancer.
Cancer is a very complicated disease which has not yet been fully understood. When the abnormal cells divide without control they form lumps or masses of tissue known as tumors (except in the case of leukemia where cancer prohibits nomal blood function by abnormal cell division in the blood stream). When we are born we have normal cells that continually grow until adulthood. We also have abnormal cells in our body.
As we get older our normal cells stop dividing and only divide to replace dead or damaged cells. The abnormal cells in our body continue to divide even into adulthood and form cancerous cells. Most cancers develop into tumors, although all tumors are not created in the body by the abnormal cells. Tumors that are not created by abnormal cells are not cancerous. These tumors will not a? ect the body in as harmful ways as cancerous tumors would. These non cancerous tumors are known as benign tumors. Cancer has many possible causes because it is a complex group of diseases. Some forms of cancer can run in your family.
You can inherit a gene of cancer but even if it is inherited it does not mean you will get cancer. A genetic alternative that is linked to cancer is just a risk factor. Another cause of cancer is the use or exposure of carcinogens. Tobacco, asbestos, compounds in a car exhaust fumes, arsenic, the sun, and radiation such as gamma and x-rays. When our bodies are exposed to these substances, free radicals are formed that try to steal electrons from other molecules in the body. These free radicals damage cells and a? ect their ability to function normally.
These products contain over seven thousand di? erent chemicals and of these chemicals, sixty are known to cause cancer. Eighty seven percent of lung cancer deaths and thirty percent of all cancer deaths are caused by smoking. Exposure to too much sun can also cause cancer and ultraviolet radiation from the sun or a tanning bed causes the cells to grow abnormally and out of control. Another cause is obesity. In fact, the American Cancer Society Prevention II showed signi? cant increases in cancer occurrence in people who are most overweight.
There are many di? erent cancer treatments but the three most common are surgery, chemotherapy, and radiation. Surgery is normally the ? rst option of treatment if the tumor can be removed from the body. Sometimes only parts of the tumor can be removed. Chemotherapy uses drugs to kill cancer cells. Doctors enter the medicine through an IV or the patient can take the medicine by mouth. The drugs travel through the body in the bloodstream, reaching cancer cells that have spread from the tumor to any other parts of the body. Radiation therapy kills the cancer cells or shrinks the tumor by using high energy rays.
There are two di? erent types of radiation therapy known as external or internal radiation. External radiation is painless but side e? ects may occur. Internal radiation is from radioactive material put into the tumor. Cancer is not yet curable, the phrase “cure for cancer” is nonsense; there will not be any single cure for cancer because there is no single cause of cancer. Total control over reproduction of every cell won’t even be enough, since the drugs that could put forth such control still have to reach the tumor, enter the cells, and begin their action.
Liver cancer presents distinct complications relating to the organ’s ? ltering of the blood, while leukemia presents their own challenges. Two similar brain cancers can be caused by entirely di? erent mutations in entirely di? erent genes. Cancer is very hard to treat for many reasons. Most of the time cancer is not caught at an early enough stage to treat it. Finding a single cancer cell is nearly impossible since there’s no scan or test that can detect a cancer cell. The cell is simply too small, even small groups of them are too small to see on test results. A large obstacle in curing the disease is ? nding a cure that doesn’t harm the healthy cells. New technologies are being created all the time to cure cancer.
One recent machine is the linear accelerator machine, known as the true beam. This machine shapes the radiation beam by using a computerized tool with the improved treatment plan. This machine works for any patient because the tool moves to ? t any shape or size of the tumor. High-dose rate brachytherapy delivers doses directly to the tumor without a? ecting other areas such as the tissues and organs. This machine utilizes a catheter so the radioactive source can travel to the site.
Intensity modulated radiation therapy permits radiation oncologists to attack cancer cells with higher doses of radiation than those previously distributed, while keeping exposure to the normal tissue at the least. Cancer is a condition of uncontrolled growth of abnormal cells that, in most cases, evolve into tumors. Carcinogens, obesity, and genetics all a? ect the chances of developing cancer. Treatments for cancer include surgery, radiation, and chemotherapy. Although we do not fully understand this mysterious disease, there are technologies emerging day after day. (and plants).