Incidentally, I started tracking my sleep on my phone using
a sleep app. Over the past two weeks, I noticed a pattern in my sleep. When my
phone is on airplane mode, I sleep very well. In contrast, when my phone is kept,
my sleep is very poor. The pattern was shocking, yet absolutely real. I did a literature search and realized there are established relationship between brain
function and cell phone/Wi-Fi patterns due to the electromagnetic interference
caused by Wi-Fi/cell phone signal.
In a large study of over 2300 children with average age of
seven years[1], the prospective study measured the
impact of electromagnetic field exposure from base stations from both
geospatial model and from indoor sources (Wi-Fi/cell phones). Impact on sleep (sleep
resistance, sleep anxiety, sleep disordered breathing) were evaluated. There is
a significant association between the duration and electromagnetic frequencies
emitted from base stations. Longer cell phone use was associated with lower
sleep duration, increased frequency of night awaking and increased bedtime
resistance. In another cross-sectional
survey study[2], adolescents were surveyed and
associations between their cell phone usage and reported well-being and sleep
quality were analyzed. Wireless headsets were associated with headaches,
feeling depressed, and waking in the night. Several cordless phone frequencies
were related to the sensation of ringing in the ears (tinnitus), feeling
depressed and sleepiness at school. Being awaken at night by a cell phone was
strongly related to tiredness at school. In a case report from Johansson
et al[3],
a patient with demyelinating syndrome is shown to have severe demyelinating
symptoms (i.e. seizures, etc). The relief of her symptoms was incidentally noticed when the
neighborhood hot spot was changed out.
The
impact of having a cell phone turned on at night significantly interfered with
my sleep was an accidental discovery, but clearly is a well-known phenomenon . Given
the established benefits of good quality sleep on growth, memory, happiness, and
overall health, this clear cause-and-effect of Wi-Fi/cell phone frequency on
sleep is a huge health issue given though endemic use of cell phones.
In fact, some studies suggest non-thermal radio-frequency radiation from Wi-Fi and cell phones impacts growing
tissues the most. In animals, electromagnetic exposure to electromagnetic frequency
has been linked to delayed kidney development. In a study of plants evaluating
the impact of electromagnetic radiation on growth, plants that were grown in a
room with two routers had no growth compared to plants grown in a
wireless-free/electromagnetic frequency-free environment[4].
There is huge efforts to reduce certain environmental
health exposure, for example, secondhand smoking. It appears that
electromagnetic radiation exposure from cell phone/Wi-Fi would be at the same magnitude
of potential health impact given these findings given the widespread prevalence
of cell phone/Wi-Fi use. Large cohort studies in a more controlled environment
are certainly justified and warranted to ensure that we are not doing ourselves more harm than good by seemingly harmless use of cell phones/Wifi. As for me, cell phone and all of my devices and my Wi-Fi router are getting unplugged during sleep. #TimeToUnplug
References;
[1] Huss A, van Eijsden M, Guxens M,
Beekhuizen J, van Strien R, Kromhout H, et al. Environmental Radiofrequency
Electromagnetic Fields Exposure at Home, Mobile and Cordless Phone Use, and
Sleep Problems in 7-Year-Old Children. PLoS One. 2015;10:e0139869.
[2]
Redmayne M, Smith E, Abramson MJ. The relationship between adolescents'
well-being and their wireless phone use: a cross-sectional study. Environ
Health. 2013;12:90.
[3]
Johansson O, Redmayne M. Exacerbation of demyelinating syndrome after exposure
to wireless modem with public hotspot. Electromagn Biol Med. 2016;35:393-7.
[4] 10 Shocking Facts about the Health Dangers of
Wi-Fi.
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