Mobile phone use triggers frequent headaches and lack of sleep

Extensive use of mobile phone is linked to increased headaches and poor sleep, says an Imperial expert. Professor Paul Elliott, Chair in Epidemiology and Public Health Medicine at Imperial College London, is leading two studies to investigate whether there is a link between the use of mobile phones and long-term health problems in adults and adolescents. He was speaking at the Imperial College Academic Health Science Centre (AHSC) seminar earlier this month at St Mary's Hospital, part of Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust. It is estimated that more than five billion people have mobile devices, and over half of these are smartphones. Many reviews have concluded that there is no convincing evidence to date that mobile phones are harmful to health in the short term. However, the widespread use of mobile phones is a relatively recent phenomenon and it is possible that adverse health effects could emerge after ten years or more of prolonged use. Professor Elliott told the audience that people who use mobiles phones extensively for making or receiving calls recorded slightly more frequent weekly headaches than other users, but it seemed that this was more related to lifestyle issues than to radio frequency (RF) emissions from the phones.