Text Messaging vs. Calling: Healthy Reasons to Choose Texting

March 2, 2011 by Jessica Zorawski

Reuters recently released an article entitled “Cellphone calls alter brain activity: study”, discussing a study where 47 people were given brain scans while a cellphone was turned on next to their ear for 50 minutes. A control group with a cellphone next to their ear that was turned off was also scanned. The study was designed to investigate how the brain reacts to electromagnetic fields caused by wireless phone signals. The study found that “glucose metabolism (a sign of brain activity) increases in the brain in people who were exposed to a cellphone in the area closest to the antenna,” according to Dr. Nora Volkow of the National Institute of Health, whose study was published in the Journal of the American Medical Association. (Reuters)

Scientists that have analyzed these findings say that the study is inconclusive in proving in any way that the cellphone and wireless phone signals directly cause brain cancer, but that they do believe that they indicate that further studies should be done to better understand the brain’s reaction to wireless phone signals. A calming fact is that a person’s brain metabolic rate can normally fluctuate to even higher levels than found in study naturally, such as when a person is thinking.

The World Health Organization, the Federal Communications Commission, and the CTIA-The Wireless Phone Association, have all publicly stated since this article was published that the cell phone does not cause a public health risk. Funny enough, the scientist that conducted the study, Dr. Nora Volkow, has said that she isn’t taking any chances and now uses an ear phone to avoid having her ear directly next to her cell phone. At Opt It, we’re following the lead of the scientist, and we are sticking to texting whenever possible; now for more reasons than ever!

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Tags: Reuters, texting

Posted in: Educational, Info, Knowledge base