A joint study involving WSU School of Medicine and researchers in Sweden has found that cell phone usage for a substantial period of three hours or more immediately prior to bedtime disrupts sleep patterns.  The study has garnered extensive national and international press over the past two weeks.

Director of Occupational and Environmental Medicine and Professor of Family Medicine at WSU’s School of Medicine, Bengt Arnetz, M.D., worked with a team of researchers at the Karolinska Institute and Uppsala University in Sweden on the study which found that radiofrequency wave energy released from mobile phones appeared to lead to or enhance insomnia, headaches and difficulty in concentration.

During an 18 month period, the researchers studied 35 men and 36 women between the ages of 18 and 45. According to Dr. Arnetz, all participants were compared in a control or experimental group and either were exposed to radiofrequency of 884 MHz wireless signals or just sham.  All 71 participants were exposed to both conditions at different times.

According to Dr. Arnetz, the ones who were exposed reported headaches, it took them longer to fall asleep and they did not sleep well through the night. The study strongly suggests that mobile phone use is associated with specific changes in the areas of the brain responsible for activating and coordinating the stress system.

This study may be a key to a growing number of health problems people encounter.