ID Number		2303
Study Type		Epidemiology
Model		Questionnaire study of self-reported electromagnetic hypersensitive subjects.
Details		AUTHORS' ABSTRACT: Hagstrom et al. 2013 (IEEE #5295): The aim was to analyze the subjective experiences of Finns who describe themselves as suffering from electromagnetic hypersensitivity (EHS), their symptoms, self-perceived sources of the health complaints and the effectiveness of medical and complementary alternative therapies. A total of 395 questionnaires were mailed to self-diagnosed EHS persons. Of the participants 345 belonged to a Finnish self-help group and 50 came from outside of the group. The return rate of the study was 52.1% (206) and 80.9% of the respondents were women. Before the onset of EHS the most common health complaints were different types of allergies (35.1%, 68). During the acute phase of EHS the most common symptoms were nervous system related: "stress" (60.3%, 117), "sleeping disorders" (59.3%, 115) and "fatigue" (57.2%, 111). The sources that were most often reported to have triggered EHS were: "personal computers" (50.8%, 94) and "mobile phones" (47.0%, 87). The same devices were also claimed to cause the most symptoms during the acute phase. After the acute phase of EHS had passed, the respondents still claimed to react to these same digital and wireless devices while their reactions to basic electrical appliances were reduced. According to 76% of 157 respondents the reduction or avoidance of electromagnetic fields (EMF) helped in their full or partial recovery. The best treatments for EHS were given as: "dietary change" (69.4%), "nutritional supplements" (67.8%) and "increased physical exercise" (61.6%). The official treatment recommendations of psychotherapy (2.6%) and medication (-4.2%) were not significantly helpful. According to the present results the official treatment protocols should take better account the EHS person's own experiences. The avoidance of electromagnetic radiation and fields effectively removed or lessened the symptoms in EHS persons. AUTHORS' ABSTRACT: Hagstrom et al. 2012 (IEEE #6272): World Heath Organisation (WHO) outlined in 2005 recommendations, how to treat people suffering from the functional impairment electrohypersensitivity in its document "Electromagnetic fields and public health". Unfortunately the reduction of electromagnetic fields was not considered as a treatment option. The aim of the current study was to shield the computer user from the emitted electromagnetic irradiation and fields and to correlate that to the subjective symptoms reported by electrohypersensitive volunteers. The irradiation of the shielding cabinets was recorded. They housed either separate computer screens or whole laptops. When the volunteers had used the shielding cabinet for 1-7 years, they were able work with their computers whole working day. Those who had used the shielding cabined for 2-3 months were partially symptom free. The person who had used the cabinet only for 1 week reported some alleviation of her nausea. In conclusion: it seems that reducing the electromagnetic irradiation of the computer can lessen the symptoms of electrohypersensitivity and permit working without problems. Further studies are needed to clarify how the symptoms of different organ systems recover and make computer users to work also professionally. AUTHORS' ABSTRACT: Kato and Johansson 2012 (IEEE #6274): An increasing number of people worldwide complain that they have become electromagnetic hypersensitive (EHS). We conducted a questionnaire survey of EHS persons in Japan. The aim was to identify electromagnetic fields (EMF) and plausible EMF sources that caused their symptoms. Postal questionnaires were distributed via a self-help group, and 75 participants (95% women) responded. Reported major complaints were "fatigue/tiredness" (85%), "headache", "concentration, memory, and thinking" difficulty (81%, respectively). Seventy-two per cent used some form of complementary/alternative therapy. The most plausible trigger of EHS onset was a mobile phone base station or personal handy-phone system (37%). Sixty-five percent experienced health problems to be due to the radiation from other passengers' mobile phones in trains or buses, and 12% reported that they could not use public transportation at all. Fifty-three percent had a job before the onset, but most had lost their work and/or experienced a decrease in income. Moreover, 85.3% had to take measures to protect themselves from EMF, such as moving to low EMF areas, or buying low EMF electric appliances. EHS persons were suffering not only from their symptoms, but also from economical and social problems. AUTHOR'S ABSTRACT: Johansson 2010 (IEEE #6276): Persons, claiming to suffer from exposure to electromagnetic fields, have been described in the literature. In Sweden, electrohypersensitivity (EHS) is an officially fully recognized functional impairment (i.e., it is not regarded as a disease). Survey studies show that somewhere between 230,000  290,000 Swedish men and women  out of a population of 9,000,000  report a variety of symptoms when being in contact with electromagnetic field (EMF) sources. Swedish electrohypersensitive people have their own handicap organization, The Swedish Association for the Electrohypersensitive, which has its own website in both Swedish and English. This organization is included in the Swedish Disability Federation (Handikappförbundens SamarbetsOrgan; HSO). One aim of our studies has been to investigate possible alterations, in the cellular and neuronal systems of these persons' skin. In summary, it is evident from our preliminary data that various alterations are present in the electrohypersensitive persons' skin that are not indicated in the skin of normal healthy volunteers. AUTHORS' ABSTRACT: Johansson and Redmayne 2016 (IEEE #6411): In August 2003, 48-year-old JS of Colorado, USA, a fitness therapist and sports nutritionist, contracted neuroinvasive West Nile virus which left her with disabilities due to spinal axonal damage.In August 2014, she suddenly developed symptoms very much like her acute West Nile infection 11 years ago, including focal seizures, ataxia, vertigo and headaches. Her blood count looked normal so there was no obvious infection. What struck her as odd was that when she left her apartment for any length of time, the symptoms stopped. She found out that a new type of wireless modem, enabled for both personal use and functioning as a public hotspot designed to reach up to 100 m, had been installed in the flat under hers.Her neighbor replaced the modem with a router without the hotspot feature. After that, the seizures stopped immediately, and the other symptoms faded gradually, after which she was fine and again could sleep well. Later, when another activated hotspot was installed in an adjacent flat, JS once again noticed symptoms.A possible association between electrohypersensitivity, myelin integrity and exposure to low-intensity radiofrequency electromagnetic elds (RF-EMF) typical in the modern world has recently been proposed. Since the West Nile virus attacks both the nerve cells and the glial ones, one explanation to the above observed case effects is that the initial virus attack and the wireless modem's RF-EMF affect the nervous system through the very same, or similar, avenues, and maybe both via the oligodendrocytes.
Findings		Effects
Status		Completed With Publication
Principal Investigator		Turku U, of Aooked Sciences/Telecom, Finland
Funding Agency		?????
Country		FINLAND
References		Hagström, M et al. Pathophysiology., (2013) 20:117-122 Hagström, M et al. Pathophysiology., (2012) 19:81-87 Johansson, O Rev Environ Health., (2015) 30:311-321 Kato, Y et al. Pathophysiology., (2012) 19:95-100 Johansson, O Earth Environ Sci., (2010) 10:doi:10.1088/1755-1315/10/1/012005-(7 pages) Johansson, O et al. Electromagn Biol Med. , (2016) 35 :393 -397
Comments