Cell Phones Raise Blood Pressure

Natural Health, April, 1999 by Katherine Gallia, Susanne Althoff, Melissa Nachatelo

CELL PHONES are more than just intrusive and irritating. Researchers now say that using cellular phones may actually cause a temporary increase in blood pressure, according to a recent study published in the Lancet.

In the study, German researchers positioned a 900-megahertz cellular phone to the right side of the heads of 10 healthy volunteers, then turned it on and off for fixed periods of time via remote control. (The volunteers did not know when the phone was operating, and they did not actually talk on the phone.) The researchers found that 35 minutes of exposure to the electromagnetic fields generated by the phones increased resting blood pressure between 5 and l0 mm Hg--an increase that could be dangerous for someone with already high blood pressure. Researchers suspect that the elevations in blood pressure are caused by a temporary constriction of blood vessels in the side of the head nearest the phone.