Electrical Hypersensitivity - An Epidemic of Misdiagnosis - Building Biology
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Electrical Hypersensitivity – An Epidemic of Misdiagnosis

16 Feb Electrical Hypersensitivity – An Epidemic of Misdiagnosis

Posted at 06:05h in Hazards by
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Anybody who claims there is little evidence to suggest there is a connection between man-made electromagnetic fields and human health, obviously is not aware of the 25,000+ articles that have been published on this topic in the past 30 years

Electrical Hypersensitivity or EHS is a 21st Century condition that arose as a result of the explosion of man-made frequencies that have been progressively introduced on to our planet in the past 100 years. First acknowledged by the Swedish and more recently by the Canadians, it was documented in computer workers in the 1980s. Since that time, the use of wireless devices including mobile phones, cordless phones, ipads, blue tooth devices, laptops, game consoles.. have become synonymous with modern day living. Like most household hazards, these technologies were introduced with little regard for their impact on human health. The number of scientific papers and reports on man-made electromagnetic fields is rising daily with well over 25,000 papers published in the past 30 years (WHO, 2011). In 2012, progressive countries including Belgium, Sweden and Germany are implementing strategies to educate health professionals, day care centres and medical practitioners about the disorder, create EMR-free zones in the community, and to invest funds to research the disorder. Schools through out Europe are banning the use of wireless technologies using the precautionary principle as their argument. Pressure is mounting on the World Health Organisation to recognise EHS as a disease.

An epidemic of under diagnosis can be attributed to the fact that EHS is characterised by a range of non-specific symptoms which vary widely amongst sufferers. In addition there are no biomarkers in the body and sadly, few practitioners who are trained to identify the symptoms. Consequently many sufferers are misdiagnosed with an autoimmune disorder, Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, ME, fibromyalgia, or fobbed off as being psychosomatic. This is further complicated by the fact that once a person’s threshold is reached, a snowball effect occurs whereby multiple systems break down (immune, central nervous system, respiratory…) and sufferers consequently become sensitive to additional hazards such as chemicals (Multiple Chemical Sensitivity) and mould.

Are you Electrically Sensitive (EHS)?

Sufferers are likely to experience several of the following symptoms:

  • general: insomnia, fatigue and headaches
  • skin: burning, prickling and biting sensation on the skin like ‘electric shocks’. This intensifies the closer they get to an appliance or the walls (building wiring)
  • nerve: restlessness, irritability, poor short term memory, difficulty concentrating, dizziness, dyslexia, forgetfulness and learning difficulties
  • heart: palpitations, chest pain, increased heart rate and blood pressure changes
  • musculoskeletal: body aches and joint pains, jaw and teeth pain, numbness or tingling sensations, muscle tremors
  • hearing: ringing in the ears, hearing loss, impaired balance
  • immune: impending flu like symptoms that dont eventuate
  • eye: impaired vision

Longterm exposure to electromagnetic fields

  • A doubling in the incidence of childhood leukaemia (when kids are exposed to more than 4mG) (Powerwatch, 2010). Government agencies around the world including the US National Institute on Environmental Health Sciences and the UK National Radiological Protection Board Advisory Group on Non-Ionising Radiation (AGNIR) now agree that magnetic fields above 4mG arising from 50/60Hz are a possible carcinogen. In 2002 the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) classified 50Hz magnetic fields as a possible carcinogen (International Agency for Research on Cancer, 2002).
  • Mounting research indicates a possible connection between mobile phone use and specific forms of brain tumours namely gliomas and acoustic neuromas (Swedish Professor Lennart Hardell, 2008).
  • There is a growing body of evidence to indicate that magnetic fields of around 12mG may increase the rate at which breast cancer cells multiply as a result of their ability to suppress the ‘anticancer’ hormone melatonin (Blackman et al, 2001 and Harland et al, 1997).

Get your home checked:

Get a building biologist to check your body voltage, and to measure the electromagnetic fields (extra low frequencies and radio/microwaves) in your home and workplace.

Solution

  1. Keep at least 1 metre away from building wiring and appliances (white goods, meter box, stereo, fridge….)
  2. Avoid wireless technologies such as DECT cordless phones, baby monitors, routers etc. Use hardwired connections wherever possible.
  3. If you must use wireless router, keep it at least 2 rooms away from bedrooms and turn it off when not in use especially at night when you are sleeping.
  4. Use a grounding mat or sleep system to ground yourself when working and sleeping.