Mobile
Phones Alert To Doctors
Northern Echo
Journalist: Barry Nelson
December 18, 2000
Doctors are
being warned to look out for possible swellings in the heads of mobile
telephone users after surgeons operated on what is thought to be the first
case of its kind in the world.
A 39-year-old
telephone engineer from North Yorkshire went to his GP complaining of a large
swelling beside his right ear.
Because he is
a frequent mobile phone user, he suspected there could be a link.
After tests
at the Friarage Hospital in Northallerton, North Yorkshire, surgeons operated
to remove a benign growth the size of a small plum on his parotid salivary
gland.
In a
scientific paper published in the Journal of Laryngology and Otology, the
surgeons who carried out the operation warn: "With the ever-increasing
use of the mobile telephone, physicians, as well as mobile telephone users,
should be aware of, and be on the look-out for, possible effects of
radio-frequency radiation.
"A
history of use of mobile phones should also become part of routine
history-taking for head and neck lesions."
The operation
was carried out by surgeon Michael Edwards, assisted by junior surgical
trainee Clifford Pereira.
The telephone
engineer, who used his mobile phone for an hour every day for four years, and
had previously used a radio transmitter in the police force, has made a
complete recovery and specialists do not expect him to have further problems.
Mr Edwards
said the case was the first of its kind anywhere.
The
condition, called nodular fasciitis, very rarely affects the parotid gland.
Only 20 cases have been previously recorded in the world, and this is the
first to occur in the deep, underlying lobe of the gland.
Mr Edwards
said the information had been passed to a central office which is collecting
information on possible health hazards associated with mobile phones.
A spokesman
for the Department of Health said there was still no evidence that mobile
phones were harmful, but until more research was carried out users should
consider limiting the length of their calls and use a phone with lower
specific absorption rates (SAR).
A European
standard should be in place by April to enable consumers to compare the SAR
levels of different phones.
Parents of
young people under 16 are "strongly advised" by UK chief medical
officers to only make essential mobile calls and keep conversations short.
A spokeswoman
for the Federation of Electronic Industries, which represents mobile phone
manufacturers, declined to comment.
