By Stephen Beech via SWNS
Mobile phones can increase the risk of a heart attack or stroke, according to a new study.
Researchers found that regular mobile phone use was “positively associated” with cardiovascular disease risk – especially in smokers and people with diabetes.
People who use a mobile phone often have a “significantly higher” risk of a potentially fatal heart attack or stroke compared to people who use one less than once a week, say scientists.
The link was partly attributed to poor sleep, psychological distress, and neuroticism, according to the findings of the study involving more than 440,000 British adults.
Dr. Yanjun Zhang, of Southern Medical University in China, said: “Mobile phone use is a ubiquitous exposure in modern society, so exploring its impact on health has significant public health value.
“Radio-frequency electromagnetic fields, or RF-EMF, emitted by mobile phones cause dysregulation of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis, inflammatory responses, and oxidative stress, and are therefore expected to affect a variety of organs such as the heart and blood vessels.
“However, whether mobile phone use is associated with the risk of cardiovascular diseases remains uncertain.”
Co-investigator Dr. Ziliang Ye, also of Southern Medical University, said: “We aimed to assess the prospective association of regular mobile phone use with incident cardiovascular diseases and explore the mediating effects of sleep and mental health.
“We found that compared with non-regular mobile phone users, regular mobile phone users had a significantly higher risk of incident cardiovascular diseases.”
The study, published in the Canadian Journal of Cardiology, included data from 444,027 people in the UK Biobank without a history of cardiovascular diseases.
The participants self-reported on the frequency of their mobile phone use from 2006 to 2010.
Regular mobile phone use was defined as at least one call per week.
Using linked hospital and mortality records, the composite outcome of stroke, coronary heart disease, atrial fibrillation, and heart failure was ascertained over an average follow-up time of around 12 years.
The Chinese research team also investigated the role of sleep patterns, psychological distress and neuroticism.
Co-investigator Dr. Xianhui Qin, also of Southern Medical University, said: “We found that sleep patterns, psychological distress, and neuroticism may be potential mechanisms of the association between mobile phone use and cardiovascular diseases.
“A poor sleep pattern and poor mental health may adversely affect the development of cardiovascular diseases through disrupted circadian rhythm, endocrine and metabolic disruption, and increased inflammation.
“In addition, chronic exposure to RF-EMF radiation emitted from mobile phones could lead to oxidative stress and inflammatory response.
“Therefore, RF-EMF radiation exposure from mobile phones in combination with smoking and diabetes may have a synergistic effect in increasing cardiovascular diseases risk.”
Experts say that as the recruitment window of the Chinese study occurred before the widespread use of modern smartphones, the generalisability and current relevance of the findings require “careful consideration”.
In an editorial, Nicholas Grubic, of the Dalla Lana School of Public Health, University of Toronto, Canada, said:, “While the current study suggests that using a mobile phone may moderately increase the risk of developing cardiovascular diseases, more conclusive evidence with valid measurements of mobile phone use is needed before this association becomes a concern for the general public.”
He added: “Maintaining responsible mobile phone habits should be a valuable component of an all-encompassing approach to supporting cardiovascular health.
“Before diving into hours of mindless ’doom-scrolling’ on your smartphone today, consider redirecting this time toward a more heart-healthy activity.”
