Phones and Health New shock study: phone calls are damaging memory.

Swiss Tropical and Public Health Institute: electromagnetic waves emitted during a call damage the cognitive functions of the youngest. Marginal risks only with simple exposure

Rome : A new research that will certainly be aimed at reviving a series of questions about the often abnormal use of cell phones in a hyper-connected world like ours would have established a link between use and memory damage, especially among adolescents.

A team of experts from the Swiss Tropical Institute and Public Health, an badociated public institute of the University of Basel and partially supported by the Swiss Federal Council of Canton Basel -City, badyzed a sample of adolescents aged 12 to 17 years, exposed to so-called radio frequency electromagnetic fields, ie electromagnetic waves whose frequencies are between 300 kHz and GHz the propagation of radio signal, television signal or cellular telephony. According to researchers, the use of smartphones would have a negative effect on the figurative memory of young participants, located in the right hemisphere of the brain. This badociation was more evident in teenagers who used the right side of the head to make and receive their calls. "Our results indicate that the waves absorbed by the brain are responsible for the badociations we observed," said Professor Martin Roosli, head of the organization's health and environmental exposure department. Other aspects of wireless communication, such as SMS, video games and Internet searches, seem to cause only a "marginal" exposure to these harmful waves and have not been badociated with an impairment of mnemonic performance. "A special feature of this study is the use of objectively extrapolated data from users' phones through the telephone companies," says Dr. Roosli, adding that more research is needed to explore the technology. Influence of other factors. "For example, our results could be influenced by puberty, which impacts both the use of the mobile phone and the participants' behavioral and cognitive status." The research team, among others, recommends minimizing the volume of mobile phone during calls, especially if we use a headset or headphones, but for Giovanni D & # 39; Agata, president of the "rights window" , reduces the use of necessary or the use of the speaker and Bluetooth devices, at this stage should greatly reduce the exposure and therefore the health risks. However, questions remain about the long-term dangers that health facilities should verify by conducting extensive research and taking large samples of the population to resolve definitively the doubts about the risks badociated with the use of mobile phones .