Heart disease is the number one cause of mortality in the United States and Canada. The heart is a very electrically dynamic organ. Heart disease includes many causes. These range from vascular diseases, electrical conduction defects, muscle problems, valvular effects, congenital defects, infectious problems, trauma and pericardial problems, all as the direct or primary cause of the cardiac disease. Other non-direct problems can also affect the heart secondary to other systemic issues, including, but not limited to, hypertension, kidney disease, lung disease, autoimmune diseases, toxicities of various kinds, etc. Finding nonpharmacologic and noninvasive ways of managing heart disease in a safe, effective, nontoxic way is always a goal.
Magnetic fields have been found to significantly affect cardiac function, in addition to effects on a myriad of other body systems and problems. Not all magnetic fields are the same. Different types of magnetic fields may have different effects on the heart. Treatment of secondary causes can be just as important as the primary management of the heart itself.
BASIC MECHANISMS AND CONCEPTS
The heart muscle itself, because of its electrical activity, creates its own endogenous EMFs. Using a special magnetometer, one can see that the heart produces its own measurable, dynamic magnetic fields – electrical and magnetic activity follow each other, as night and day. These measurable fields allow for the mapping of the heart’s magnetic field under normal and pathological conditions and making possible a new tool for functional cardiology. EMFs generated by the cardiovascular system itself have biological effects not only on the heart itself but also on non-cardiac cells in the body distal to the heart by interacting with the immune system. Use of mobile phones is commonplace. Mobile phones produce biologically active HF EMFs. Digital mobile telephones have the theoretical possibility of affecting implanted cardiac pacemakers. The META series of pacemakers are mostly immune to clinically important EMF interference from digital mobile telephones.
Heart Disease, Strokes, High Blood Pressure
Globally, high blood pressure was one of the top three leading modifiable risk factors of disease in 2005, along with tobacco and alcohol. New research has now shown that high blood pressure now causes up to 66% of cardiovascular diseases, such as heart disease and stroke in the Asia-Pacific Region, according to The George Institute for International Health."
Heart disease, heart attacks, heart irregularities, strokes and high blood pressure are all rising sharply.
In Australia, the Baker Heart Research Institute’s Professor Simon Stewart in June 2007 sent medical staff into shopping centres around the country to measure the blood pressure of 15,000 Australians. The preliminary findings were that 42 per cent of Australians now have high blood pressure - up from 35 per cent in 2000. Full results of the study are expected later in the year.
In the US, almost a third of all adults suffer from high blood pressure, a dramatic rise over the past decade. A recent report in the Hypertension: Journal of the American Heart Association indicates some 65 million adults were diagnosed with high blood pressure in 2004, versus 50 million 10 years ago. (New York Times, June 2004).
Also in 2004 a health survey from 1988 to 2000 by the US Heart, Lung and Blood Institute and published in The Journal of the American Medical Association said they were struggling to control the growing rate of childhood obesity in the United States, with children and adolescents' blood pressure levels climbing sharply.
A survey done by the British Heart Foundation for the UK’s National Health Service in 2002 claimed the number of people living with heart failure has risen by 15 per cent."67
A mechanism for this was proposed by Professor Russell Reiter, one of the world’s leading researchers on melatonin, which summarizes its role as being vital for healthy sleep, reducing cholesterol and blood pressure, and therefore the incidence of strokes.
High blood pressure was also found amongst those living around phone towers in the UK69
"There is a large and coherent body of evidence of biological mechanisms that support the conclusion of a plausible, logical and causal relationship between EMR exposure and cancer, cardiac, neurological and reproductive health effects." Dr Neil Cherry
Without a doubt, cell phones can save lives. They enable quicker notification of emergency medical services, speed up transmission of and expedite the recording of an EKG for rhythm analysis. But should we be worried about how cell phones affect the function of the heart, especially because so many of us carry these gadgets in our pocket right over our ticker?
Here's what we know: electromagnetic energy emitted by cell phones appears to increase reactive oxygen species (oxidation or rust, a common mechanism of aging and disease), weakens cell membranes, and alters the handling of calcium in cells. A further concern under investigation is possible damage to the DNA in mitochondria, the powerhouse of all cells for energy production.
But .... Isn’t the government watching out for our safety around cell phones?
In 1996, the FCC established limits for safe exposure to radio frequency (RF) energy based on a measurement called the Specific Absorption Rate (SAR). In establishing SAR limits, the FCC did not conduct any research on cell phones specifically and did not examine any of the potential non-thermal effects of cell phones.
The 1996 FCC limits reflected six minutes of cell phone use per day in a man with a large body frame and head size. This didn't account for smaller-framed men and women, or children. Or the fact that the average daily use of cell phones now exceeds 30 minutes.
Another concern is that the FCC data does not reflect the relationship between position of the phone user and the tower maintaining the call. The further a caller is from the tower or more shielded they are (for example, in a car or building), the higher the energy emitted from the gadget.
Driving and switching from cell tower to tower is particularly associated with high energy output surges from the phone. In recognition of the uncertainty of the health aspects of using cell phones, the maker of my iPhone (and yours) includes a legal statement under the tab "Legal" information which states “carry iPhone at least 10 mm away from your body to ensure exposure levels remain at or below the as-tested levels.”
Did you ever read that? Do you and your children do that?
What do we know about cell phones and cardiac health? (Not much)
Most well-maintained pacemakers and defibrillators are unaffected by cell phone usage, although during adjustments in a physician’s office or hospital, it's routine to have cellphones off. Heart rate variability in healthy persons, a measure of cardiac nervous system function, has been shown to be unaffected by cellphone use.
Recently several pieces of information do raise some concerns worth sharing. Indian medical students were studied during a call. A 1-minute phone call raised the heart rate in chronic users of cell phones. The blood cholesterol levels were also higher in regular users. A similar study was just reported at the American Society of Hypertension meeting in May, which found that the ring of a cell phone caused blood pressure to rise on average by 8 mmHg.
Of more concern is a published study of patients with clogged heart arteries due to atherosclerosis. Over 100 of these patients had an EKG performed while a cell phone in the off position was placed at their waist and then over their heart. Then the EKG was repeated while the phone rang for 40 seconds at the same positions. Turns out that the cell phone ring caused higher QT levels, which is associated with heart rhythm problems.
Since there’s no way to easily avoid electromagnetic radiation in today’s world, the only sane solution is getting EMF protection. MHT offers a product that have been tested and proven effective. Click on PRODUCT to learn more to protect you and your family.