Removal of Calcium from Cell Membranes Weakens Membranes, Leading to Leakage, Explaining Symptoms of Electrosensitivity and Other Biological Effects from Weak Non-Ionizing Electromagnetic Radiation.
http://www.scribd.com/doc/7636830/The-Cell-Phone-and-the-Cell-the-Role-of-Calcium-
In an article “The Cell Phone and the Cell: the Role of Calcium” by Andrew Goldsworthy, 2008, of Imperial College, London, he states: ” A discovery made over thirty years ago may hold the key to why weak non ionizing electromagnetic radiation seems to have so many ill effects on health, ranging from exacerbating allergies and autism to reducing fertility and promoting cancer. We now have a plausible scientific explanation for the mechanism involved.” Highly recommended reading.
Goldsworthy explains the body absorbs radiation and generates eddy currents that flow beyond the site of exposure, weakening cell membranes by removing structurally important calcium and other divalent ions. The removal of calcium oc curs in non-thermal circumstances and only within certain ‘amplitude’ windows’. Low frequencies have more of an effect than high, and pulses are more potent than sine waves. Leakage of digestive enzymes from lysosomes can account for the damage to DNA, “which explains the increased risk of cancer and reductions in fertility found in heavy mobile phone users”.
In addition to permeability of cells, ‘junction barriers’ between cells in certain parts of the body are also weakened, allowing foreign materials through to places intended to be sealed off, such as the brain,the skin, nose, lungs and gut. For example, increased permeability of the gut has been linked to autoimmune conditions such as MS, IBS and type-1 diabetes. Substances traveling through to places they don’t belong include allergens, toxins and carcinogens.
Goldsworthy says, “Many of the neurological symptoms of EHS are likely to be due to the radiation increasing the permeability of nerve cells to make them generate spurious impulses”.
He adds, “The programed flow of calcium ions through membranes is a prerequisite for the release of neurotransmitters that transfer signals between neurons in the brain. Unscheduled calcium leakage into these cells will increase the background calcium concentration, making them hypersensitive and more likely to transmit spurious signals.” This would “cloud normal mental activity, trigger random thoughts and give the loss of concentration characteristic of ADHD”.
He says the body has resources to defend itself from electromagnetic exposure, such as by pumping surplus calcium out of cells, activating ornithine decarboxylase to protect nucleic acids and making heat shock proteins to protect enzymes, but this fatigues the body, interferes with normal metabolism and impairs the immune system, leading to lowered resistance to disease and cancer. He says DNA fragmentation throughout the whole body would be expected to lead to “reduction in male fertility from damage to DNA of developing sperm, an increased risk of cancer from DNA damage in other cells, which may take years to appear, and genetic mutations that will appear in future generations”.
Dr. Goldsworthy says not everyone is equally affected by radiation, possibly due to differences in blood calcium or magnesium, efficacy of defense mechanisms, and previous exposures to electromagnetic fields “which has a sensitizing effect”. He also notes that pulsed radiation may be transmitted chemically in the blood, removing calcium ions from cell surfaces throughout the body. “So when you use a mobile phone, its signal will be transmitted to all parts of your body; nowhere is safe”. He says irradiated water in treatment facilities to remove lime scale has biological effects similar to direct radiation, and raises the specter antennas placed on water towers may be having far reaching effects on the population through the water, beyond the local exposure where the antenna is situated.
The science showing the eddy currents generating small alternating voltages across cell membranes leads to increased permeability through the removal of calcium ions dates back to the work of Bawin et al, 1975.Later, Dr. Carl Blackman showed this occurs only with weak radiation, and then only within specific ‘amplitude windows’. (Blackman et al, 1982, Blackman 1990).
Goldsworthy says, “High frequency electromagnetic fields such as radio waves have relatively little biological effect unless they are amplitude modulated with a low biologically active frequency”.
Dr. Goldsworthy says that just because one may have no symptoms of electrical sensitivity, does not mean one is not impacted. “Even people not suffering EHS show changes in the brain function in response to the radiation from mobile phones and their base stations. These include reacting more quickly to simple stimuli but having a poorer performance on more complex tasks” (Abdel-Rassoul et al, 2007)…Tasks likely to be affected include learning in classrooms fitted with WiFi and driving a car while using a mobile phone”.
Dr. Goldsworthy also explains how the 6000 per cent increase in autism over recent years corresponds in time to the proliferation of mobile telecommunications, WiFi and microwave oven use. In “The Cell Phone and the Cell: the Role of Calcium” he explains the growth in autism in terms of “electromagnetically induced membrane leakage leading to brain hyperactivity”.
Read the full article with detailed references: The Cell Phone and the Cell: the Role of Calcium. The article was based on a paper written for a conference on “Mobile Phone Technology and its Consequences for Public Health”, organized by the University of Athens, May 25, 2008.
–ElectromagneticHealth.org