ID-100229357Use your mobile phone sparingly. Talking on your mobile phone for more than 30 minutes every day could nearly triple your risk of developing a glioma, a common form of brain tumour, researchers have announced.

The risk is highest among the heaviest users of mobiles, who spend anything from 30 minutes and 80 minutes or more every day making calls, say researchers from the French CERENAT study. However, there is no risk among occasional and light users.

The most likely form of tumour that can develop after heavy use is a glioma, but researchers found that another type, a meningioma, was also regularly seen among the study’s participants. In all, researchers recorded 253 gliomas and 194 meningiomas among the participants.

Fears of a link between mobile phone use and brain tumours have been voiced for nearly 20 years, although a large study, sponsored by the mobile phone industry, found no association.

The CERENAT findings put the problem right back on the table.

Source: Occupational Environmental Medicine, 2014; doi: 10.1136/oemed-2013-101754
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