Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Mobile phone cancer warning as malignant brain tumours double

telegraph.co.uk

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

51–60 of 185 posts

Re: Mobile phone cancer warning as malignant brain tumours double

#51

Post by dx034 »

tluyben2 wrote: post #17
Numberwang wrote: post #6

Is anyone calling anyone these days? Mobile Phones seems to mostly be used for messaging and surfing these days.

That is what I thought as well, but on HN of all places I see people fretting about speech quality of mobile phones and networks and such. When I walk around in big cities I see people text and, especially in China, people leaving eachother voice messages via wechat.

Most people I see leaving voice messages do that by just holding the microphone towards them to be able to still use the screen (for Whatsapp you had to keep pressing the button until recently). That keeps the phone away from your head. Same goes for Skyping or using headsets.

Re: Mobile phone cancer warning as malignant brain tumours double

#52

Post by stochastic_monk »

tzahola wrote: post #23
stochastic_monk wrote: post #13

Source: https://www.hindawi.com/journals/jeph/aip/7910754/ The provisional pdf is full of Tracked Changes. To clarify, GBM is the only kind of cancer that increased in frequency in the data they have. I'm less inclined to think that these "findings" are accurate and more to think it's a matter of accounting and data quality. (Not to mention the quality of the manuscript itself.)

>To clarify, GBM is the only kind of cancer that increased in frequency in the data they have. Only glioblstoma multiforme, aka the most aggressive and deadly brain cancer? Phfew, what a relief.

In fairness, GBM is brutal and has a life expectancy measured in months, not years, even with treatment.

On the other hand, it's a subset with ~15% proportion of all brain tumors. The article's title suggests that all brain tumor rates doubled and I am clarifying.

Re: Mobile phone cancer warning as malignant brain tumours double

#53

Post by fluidcruft »

jdironman wrote: post #19
CommieBobDole wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I can't find the cite right now, but I recall there was a study some years back that found that heavy mobile phone users didn't have any higher rate of brain cancer than the general population, but among those who did get cancer, there was a strong statistical correlation between the side of the head where they most used the phone and the location of the cancer.

Maybe it has something to do with predisposition to their dominant side and not specifically the use of a mobile device.

"Dominant side of the brain" is actually on the opposite side. If you're right dominant, it's left hemisphere.

Re: Mobile phone cancer warning as malignant brain tumours double

#54

Post by ItsMe000001 »

mgamache wrote: post #31
Zigurd wrote: post #11

Brain tumors take several years to even decades to develop and become apparent. This rise in tumors detected now could have been caused in the days of analog phones with radios that had vastly higher power output. Or, for that matter, analog cordless phones.

GBM tumors are super aggressive and there's no known cause. If you get diagnosed with a GBM your five year survival rate is 10%. Whatever the cause once the tumor gets started you have a months, not years before you know it.

You mention a key key point: "once the tumor gets started ". Cancer does not start immediately, the effects leading up to it accumulate over long periods. That was OPs point, although I disagree for the reason mentioned in the other reply.

Re: Mobile phone cancer warning as malignant brain tumours double

#55

Post by gnode »

tonmoy wrote: post #21

> cases of GBM in England have increased from around 1,250 a year in 1995 to just under 3,000. Not only the population of UK has increased in this time, it has also gotten older on average. Moreover is 0.002% of population getting GBM per year even significant enough to blame mobile phones (that is used by everyone)?

Are there any statistics available which can link GBM to age?

Re: Mobile phone cancer warning as malignant brain tumours double

#56

Post by Uehreka »

coldtea wrote: post #41
consp wrote: post #29

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> BTW, exercise kills as well. There are also known cases of heavy smokers/drinkers that made it to 100. Outliers, not in any way related to the general trend and a bad argument in general.

> Outliers, not in any way related to the general trend and a bad argument in general. Numbers please.

The burden of proof rests on the person making the claim (the person claiming that some smokers/drinkers live to 100) rather than the person challenging it.

Re: Mobile phone cancer warning as malignant brain tumours double

#57

Post by coldtea »

Numberwang wrote: post #6

Is anyone calling anyone these days? Mobile Phones seems to mostly be used for messaging and surfing these days.

While data usage has scyrocketed, voice (call time) has remained constant, or even increased over time. Data usage eats on other items (like tv and desktop use) not call time.

https://www.ericsson.com/en/mobility-report/mobile-traffic-r...

https://qz.com/509442/why-are-we-still-calling-them-phones/

Re: Mobile phone cancer warning as malignant brain tumours double

#58

Post by emsy »

tonmoy wrote: post #21

> cases of GBM in England have increased from around 1,250 a year in 1995 to just under 3,000. Not only the population of UK has increased in this time, it has also gotten older on average. Moreover is 0.002% of population getting GBM per year even significant enough to blame mobile phones (that is used by everyone)?

And brain cancer detection probably got better as well.

Re: Mobile phone cancer warning as malignant brain tumours double

#59

Post by coldtea »

hajhatten wrote: post #18
Numberwang wrote: post #6

Is anyone calling anyone these days? Mobile Phones seems to mostly be used for messaging and surfing these days.

Tell that to my mom

As if it's just older people?

Check teenage girls -- it's not snapchat and the like all the time, they can still spend countless hours on voice calls with their friends...

Re: Mobile phone cancer warning as malignant brain tumours double

#60

Post by coldtea »

emodendroket wrote: post #45

I'm curious how much time most people spend actually talking on their phones now compared to pre-smartphones. Also, while I suppose being in an active call probably changes the amount of radiation at play, I'd expect, if cell phones are causing cancer, an attendant rise in, say, testicular cancer.

Slightly more...

https://qz.com/509442/why-are-we-still-calling-them-phones/

Post reply on HN