Social Psychologist & Personal Advisor

Dr Matt's Myth Busting!

Do Cell Phones Cause Cancer?.
.by Matt Moody, Ph.D..

I have a friend who has Cancer and is convinced that holding her Cell Phone to the side of her head was the cause? Her particular Cancer is located in her salivary glands. She came to this conclusion by correlation: I have Cancer in about the same area . . . that I use my Cell Phone.

Truth is, any person who contracts a form of Cancer in the head area, might correlate their Cancer to using a Cell Phone. Chances are, MOST people who suffer from Cancer also use a Cell Phone — this is called a Correlation, which does not indicate Causation.

Here is the Correlation-Causation Fallacy: Events X and Y both happen at the same time. Therefore, X caused Y (or Y caused X), because events of type X always accompany events of type Y. Here's an example of the Correlation-Causation Fallacy:

Bigger shoe sizes correlate to better handwriting.
Therefore, having big feet improves writing skills!

Two Burning Questions pertaining to the Cell Phone/Cancer Issue are:

                   1 -   Is there any evidence that Cell Phones usage even correlates with Cancer?
                2 -   Are Cell Phones even capable of causing Cancer? In other words,.
                        Is there a valid theory to explain why Cell Phone usage should cause Cancer?

By December 2008, about 271 million American use cellular phone, among a total population of 306 million. This means 3 out of 4 people (75%) use Cell Phones in the U.S.A.   Hence, Cell Phones are an easy target for "correlational" conclusions — similar to linking tongue cancer to . . . eating bread.

Cell phones use non-ionizing radio frequency waves (called RF Waves), which differs from the ionizing radiation of x-rays and radioactive material; this means, Cell Phone waves do not have enough power to cause ionizing effects to electrons or atom particles. Cell phone waves fall between FM radio waves and Microwaves used to heat food (read about Microwave effects on Food).

Let's answer the first burning question: Is there a real correlation between Cell Phone usage and Cancer? Recent research sheds light on this burning question. Here are four major research studies that looked for correlations between Cell Phone Use and Cancer:

A study conducted by Hardell et al., compared 233 brain cancer patients, diagnosed between 1994 and 1996, to 466 control subjects in Sweden. The second study conducted by Muscat et al., compared 469 brain cancer patients, diagnosed between 1994 and 1998, with 422 control comparisons. A third study by Inskip et al., compared 782 brain cancer patients diagnosed between 1994 and 1998, with 799 control subjects. And a forth study by Johansen et al., compared data on 420,000 cell phone users in Denmark, between 1982 and 1995, to the Danish Cancer Registry.

All four studies came to similar conclusions:

   *  Brain cancer patients reported no greater cell phone usage compared to the subjects
        who were free of brain cancer. Curiously, the studies showed a lower rate of brain cancer
        among cell phone users.

   *  Controlling for different types of brain cancer, none were consistently associated
        with cell phone use.

   *  When specific locations of tumors within the brain were considered, no correlations
        with cell phone use were found.

   *  None of the studies showed a clear link between the side of the head on which the
        brain cancer occurred and the side on which the cellular phone was used.

A Judge ruled recently on an $800,000 law suit, where a medical doctor alleged that cell phone use caused his brain cancer. Judge Catherine Blake ruled that the plaintiff's scientific evidence wasn't sufficiently reliable or relevant.

Curiously, one of the plaintiff's expert witnesses was Dr. Lennart Hardell (who conducted one of the correlational studies above). While Hardell testified that the brain tumor in this particular case was supposedly caused by cell phone usage, Judge Blake pointed out this expert witness's contradiction: Hardell's 1999 research study reported no "overall increased risk for brain tumors associated with exposure to cellular phones."

Even though there is good evidence to show no consistent correlation between cell phone use and brain cancer, the second burning question — the theoretical question — remains:

Why should RF Waves from Cell Phones causes damage to a human body in the first place? In other words, in light of what we know about non-ionizing RF Waves, are they even capable of causing any harmful effects to the human body — let alone, causing Cancer?

Have you ever noticed that when you talk on a cell phone, your ear gets warm? This has nothing to do with RF Waves somehow heating up your body. Instead, you could hold a shoe to your ear and replicate the same "warming" effect. Truth is, when holding ANYTHING to your head, you inhibit the escape of body heat — hence, that particular part of your body gets warmer. RF Waves emitted from cell phones are not capable of heating human tissue.

On the other hand the Microwaves used to heat food, will indeed heat up human tissue. So Dr Matt Recommends: DON'T stick your head in a microwave oven! Microwave heating happens when millions of tiny photons add a small amount of heat to water molecules, according to University of Virginia physics professor Louis A. Bloomfield, Ph.D.

The American Cancer Society has made this official statement: "the low energy level emitted from cell phones are unlikely to cause cancer." Even so, some people, paranoid about the effects of RF Waves, use ear buds and headsets to get a Cell Phone away from their head. But here's the problem, if Cell Phone Radio Frequency Waves were capable of doing damage to the head (which they aren't), then these same Radio Waves would do bodily damage down by your pocket — or wherever else you put a cell phone when using a headset!

Bottom Line: IF RF Waves were as powerful as Microwaves (which they aren't), THEN they might warm the surface of your skin (which they don't). RF Waves are NOT as powerful as Microwaves and there is no reasonable theory to explain why non-ionizing, low energy emitted from Cell Phonse should cause any adverse effects to your body, let alone CANCER.

* * * * * * *

The Journey
For this is the Journey that men make:.
To find themselves. If they fail in this, it matters little
whatever else they may achieve: Money, Fame, Revenge.
When they end the Journey, they can put them all into
a bin marked “ashes.” They mean nothing.
But if one has found that he has within him
a divine soul, if he has discovered the principles
upon which the fulfillment of that soul is based, and
if he implements those principles, then he has a mansion
within which he can live with dignity
and joy each day of his life.
(Changing Your Stripes, 2nd Edition, page 1).

Dr. Matt offers telephone counseling that will teach you
the principles upon which the fulfillment of your soul is based.

The Greatest Prize
for Life's labors isn't
in material possessions
or impressive accomplishments,
but in the progress of personal character.
You labor for your own becoming, this is your richest reward.
Who You Become is your greatest possession,
make it your Masterpiece!
(Changing Your Stripes, 2nd Edition, page 274).

The book, "Changing Your Stripes" presents principles for getting out of
the ditch in which you've been dumped (the difficulties of which you are a victim), and
the ditch in which you've jumped (the difficulties for which you volunteer).

"Mastering a challenging situation
is ultimately a matter of
mastering yourself!"
- Matt Moody 

"Changing Your Stripes," teaches you the principles that lead to lasting change,
making you a new kind of creature capable of communicating
with calm, even as storms of contention swirl.

If these principles resonate and ring true,
then . . . this book is for you!

Sold Exclusively
through this website

Changing Your Stripes is a
unique reference book that will help
you understand, . . . and solve all of
Life's ever-appearing problems.
Here are more reasons to buy
Changing Your Stripes

Social Psychologist & Personal Advisor