Cellphones don't increase cancer risk in kids, study says

Using cellphones doesn't increase children's cancer risk, according to a new study, the latest in a series of papers that find no link between the phones and brain tumors.

Scientists say the study is important, because it is the first of its kind to focus on children.

The study's authors compared the cellphone habits of nearly 1,000 children

in Western Europe, including 352 with brain tumors and 646 without. Kids who used cellphones were no more likely to develop a brain tumor than others, according to the study of children ages 7 to 19, published online Wednesday in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute.

Scientists have been eagerly awaiting these results, says Martha Linet, a doctor with the National Cancer Institute who wasn't involved in the study. "It's very reassuring," Linet says.

Researchers, led by Denis Aydin of the Swiss Tropical and Public Health Institute, looked at their data in several ways, searching for possible trends with long-term use. They found no increase in brain tumors among children who had used cellphones for five years or more, according to the study, funded by European health agencies.

Some scientists and consumers have been concerned about cellphones' health effects, especially on developing children, because cellphones emit energy close to the brain.

In the study, Aydin and colleagues note that radio frequency electromagnetic fields created by cellphones penetrate deeper into children's brains than adults' brains, mainly because kids' skulls are smaller, the study says. Recent studies have suggested that small children's brains absorb about twice as much mobile phone energy as adults' brains.

But authors also point out that this energy — unlike the radiation given off by X-rays or CT scans — isn't strong enough to damage DNA, cause mutations and lead to cancer. And while many people are concerned about cellphones, no one has ever come up with a way to explain how the devices might cause cancer, Linet says.

If cellphones caused brain tumors, researchers might expect to find those tumors on the side of the head where kids hold their phones. In the new study, however, children had the lowest risk of tumors in the part of the brain exposed to the most cellphone energy, write scientists John Boice and Robert Tarone in an accompanying editorial. They note that there has been no increase in brain tumors — among kids or adults — since cellphones came into widespread use in the 1990s. In their editorial, they note that there were 285 million cellphone subscribers in 2009 in the USA alone. If cellphones really did cause brain tumors, doctors would likely have noticed this by now, they write.

But the study also produced some mixed signals.

In a subset of children, researchers found a higher risk of brain tumors in children whose cellphone subscriptions had begun more than 2.8 years ago.

Overall, however, parents should find these results reassuring, says pediatrician Rachel Vreeman, of the Indiana University School of Medicine, who summarizes recent cellphone research in her book, Don't Cross Your Eyes… They'll Get Stuck That Way!: And 75 Other Health Myths Debunked. "This is a good piece of evidence that parents don't need to be panicked about cellphones and cancer," Vreeman says.

Concerns about cellphones were renewed last month, when a branch of the World Health Organization, the International Agency for Research on Cancer, reversed its previous position. In the past, the agency had said there was "no conclusive evidence" linking cellphones to brain tumors. Now, the agency classifies cellphones as "possibly carcinogenic" based on "limited evidence," acknowledging that the few links between cellphones and cancer could be due to chance.

The "possibly carcinogenic" category includes a number of staples of everyday life, however, such as coffee, pickles and styrofoam, Vreeman says.

"Scientific evidence has overwhelmingly indicated that wireless devices do not pose a public health risk for adults or children," said John Walls of CTIA-The Wireless Association, in a statement.

Consumers who remain concerned can take a number of steps to reduce their exposure to cellphone energy, such as using a hands-free device or a speakerphone, the American Cancer Society says.

Via: http://yourlife.usatoday.com/parenting-family/story/2011/07/Cell-phones-dont-increase-cancer-risk-in-kids-study-says/49684308/1

Cellphones are dangerous / not dangerous: cancer experts say 'What, me worry?'

If you haven't already gotten whiplash from the ongoingcellphone-cancer debate, a freshly released scientific review might just do the trick. In the paper, published Friday, a panel of experts from Britain, Sweden and the US conducted a thorough survey of previous studies, before concluding that existing literature is "increasingly against" the theory that cellphone use causes brain tumors in adults. The researchers also questioned the biological mechanisms underpinning this hypothesis, while acknowledging some lingering uncertainties, since data on childhood tumors and longer-term research are still lacking.

The results come just a few weeks after the World Health Organization released its own literature review, in which it claimed that cell phones should be considered "potentially carcinogenic." ButAnthony Swerdlow, a professor at Britain's Institute of Cancer Research and leader of the most recent investigation, said his group's work doesn't necessarily contradict the WHO, since the latter was simply seeking to evaluate cancer risks according to its own "pre-set classification system" -- under which things like pickled vegetables and coffee are also considered "potentially carcinogenic." Unfortunately, this doesn't mean that the debate will die down anytime soon, though Swerdlow expects more definitive conclusions within the next few years -- assuming, of course, that all of our brains haven't turned to oatmeal by then.

http://www.engadget.com/2011/07/04/cellphones-are-dangerous-not-dangerous-cancer-experts-say-wh/

Cleankeys Keyboards 99% bacteria free

Did you know that your run of the mill keyboard is basically a gigantic apartment complex for bacteria? Gross, no? Thankfully there's Cleankeys, a keyboard that bulldozes the bacteria and replaces it with a sleek, sterile touch-sensitive slab.

Wiping a standard keyboard with a disinfecting cloth kills about 5% of bacteria. Cleankeys claims the same test kills 99% of bacteria on their keyboard, simply because they have nowhere to hide.

The wireless keyboard trades actual keys for touch-sensitive ones, so in exchange for a much more sanitary experience you'll be giving up that satisfying clickity-clack you've grown accustomed to. It's intended for use at hospitals where keyboard-germs are a serious issue, though I'd imagine it might pique the interest of regular old germaphobes too.

The Cleankeys keyboard includes a trackpad for clicking about and uses patent-pending technology to keep it from registering keystrokes when you're just resting your hands on the thing. That way your doctor doesn't accidentally diagnose you with alsdfjasgyboxicyuixccccccccc.

A molded model costs $400 and a glass version will run you $50 more. No one said your campaign against germs was gonna be cheap. [Clean Keys Inc]

Desk jobs making more people obese, study finds

Desk jobs are increasing obesity, with many employees and employers ignorant of the risks of sitting down all day. A link between obesity and conditions in the workplace was growing. As the workplace becomes our second home, our traditional diets have been swapped for fast food that is high in saturates.

"A basic cause of obesity related to the workplace is a lack of awareness of how serious this issue is among employers and employees," said Athena Linos, an epidemiology lecturer at Athens University. "Factors include work-related stress, overtime and desk-bound jobs."

read more | digg story

Healthy Employees are a Win/Win for Everybody

“Almost a third of companies offering health insurance benefits to their employees also provide a wellness program of some sort. Fitness, smoking cessation and weight-loss programs are provided most frequently, according to 2006 employer health benefits survey by the Kaiser Family Foundation. The telephone survey contacted 2,122 randomly selected public and private employers,” according to a CNN article.

Recently, MedCom began offering reimbursement to its employees for active enrollment in health and weight-loss programs. The atmosphere within the answering service industry is primarily a sedentary lifestyle. This 24/7 job typically requires agents to be deskbound in order to properly handle clients’ calls just as in most call centers. Consistently sitting behind a desk restricts the amount of activity agents get throughout the day. By MedCom offering to offset costs of joining weight control programs, meetings with health counselors, nutritional guidance and exercise plans, the MedCom administration hopes to motivate their employees to begin or even continue taking action to improve their health.

In addition to offsetting the cost of these wellness programs, MedCom implemented a smoking cessation plan. The goal is to help employees quit smoking. Quitting smoking along with active participation in wellness programs can enhance the overall company’s health. This improvement in health can go a long way for both the employees and the company.

"Health and wellness programs at work are a win/win situation for everybody," says Richard Taylor, vice president of human resources at Intel. "We keep our insurance costs down, and the employees are offered free health and wellness opportunities."