I remember the first time my grandfather told me he had cancer. My assumption was that it was all health related. Yet I learned that it was also caused by the usage of electronic devices. I was shocked and surprised of this news. Will this start to affect the future of my generation? It seems like everyone is on some type of electronic device everywhere you look.. Cell phones first became widely available in the United States in the 1990s. Ever since then the use of them have increased dramatically. In 2011, more than 320 million people had phones which is more than US population.
The age range and how long people talk on their phone have increased. Brain cancer in the past decade was at 23,130 new diagnoses and 14,080 deaths. The 5-year relative survival diagnosed from 2003-2009 was 35 percent. “Cell Phones and Cancer Risk” talks about different points that have been brought up with cell phones causing cancer. There are three main reasons why people are concerned that cell phones might cause cancer. First, cell phones emit radiofrequency energy which can cause the tissues to absorb non-ionizing radiation. Second, the number of cell phone users has increased rapidly.
In 2010, there were more than 303 million subscribers to cell phone service in the United States versus 110 million user in 2000. Lastly, the number of cell phone calls per day, length of call, and amount of time people use cell phones have increased. There are two different types of electromagnetic radiation: ionizing, which is like x-rays and non-ionizing, which is like radiofrequency. A recent study shows that when people use their phone for 50 minutes, the brain tissue on the phone side is metabolizes more glucose than the tissues on the opposite side of the brain.
A study known as COSMOS which is cohort study of mobile phone of society. They enrolled approximately 290,000 cell phone user aged 18 years or older to date and will follow them for 20 to 30 years. The users will complete questionnaires about their health, lifestyle, and current and past cell phone use. Researchers hope after the 20 to 30 years of following these people around they will have more data in which they can see if cell phone actually do cause cancer. According to the American Cancer Society page, how cell phones work by sending signal to a cell tower by your provider using radio-frequency (RF) waves.
This forms electromagnetic energy that falls between FM radio waves and microwaves. Radiofrequency waves are from strong types of radiation called ionizing, like x-rays and ultraviolet light, which can break the chemical bonds in DNA. According to the American Cancer Society page they say it is hard to come up with the exact answer if cell phones do cause cancer right now because firstly studies have not yet been able to follow people for very long periods of time. So when the people do get tumors the scientists do not know where they have been or what they have done.
Cell phone usage is constantly changing. People are using cell phones much more than they were 10 years ago. Most studies published so far have focused on adults, rather than children. Children with tumors develop them at a young age. Children use cell phones now a days and they are more sensitive to the radio-frequency waves, that it could be a possibility. The measurement of cell phone use in most cases has been case-control studies, which rely on people’s memories about their past cell phone use.
On the Mayo Clinic website there was a question asked “is there any link between cellphones and cancer? ” Timothy Moynihan a M. D. answered the question. He believes there is a possible connection. Some research suggests a slight increase in the rate of brain tumors since the 1970s, but cell phones weren’t used till the 1990s. Dr. Moynihan says for now, no one knows if cell phones are capable of causing cancer. I personally believe cell phones have some kind of role with brain cancer, because 3 years ago my grandfather got diagnosed with brain cancer.
Luckily they caught it at its early stage. He was not on his phone a lot but the doctor said even talking on it three to four times a day can build up quickly. However, most studies published so far have not found a link between cell phone use and brain cancer. They are still trying to find out more details. Right now this is a theory and eventually they will come up with the answer, but it will take time and research. Writer’s Introduction My intended audience is high school and college kids. This is my audience because they use their phones more often.
They are going in the work force soon and will be using their phones a lot more often, talking to customers and business people. I feel like I can write about this because I have a personal experience with this topic due to my grandfather. Works Cited “Cell Phones and Cancer Risk. ” National Cancer Institute, 24 June 2013.
Web. 14 Nov. 2013. . “Cellular Phones. ” American Cancer Society, 23 Feb. 2012. Web. 17 Nov. 2013. . Moynihan, Timothy J. , M. D. “Is There Any Link between Cellphones and Cancer? ” Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research, 20 Nov. 2012. Web. 14 Nov. 2013. .