Whether you believe that WiFi is the worst thing that’s ever happened to humans or the best thing that ever happened for business, you’re right. Well, using extreme words like “worst thing ever” may be excessive because who’s to validate the superlative? Either way, it DOES impact you in a POSITIVE and NEGATIVE way. I like to do some simple education about what something is, connect some dots around your health concerns, and give you practical advice on how to do your best without living in a bubble.
What are Electromagnetic Fields (EMFs)?
The word EMF is simply referring the radiation that’s being emitted from something, and there are 2 forms: ionizing and non-ionizing. Non-ionizing is generally seen as safe and ionizing is categorized as toxic for humans due the DNA damaging abilities (think cancer). It may make you feel warm and fuzzy to know that most of your electronic devices fall in the non-ionizing category, but as research is evolving and more patients are being treated for EMF sensitivities, many countries are taking measures to remove their citizens from this exposure for health reasons.
In fact, in 2011, the World Health Organization (WHO) classified EMFs from cell phones and wireless devices to be potential human carcinogens.
How does this impact your body?
Let’s just make a list:
- Using your cell for a minimum of 30 minutes a day on one side of your head for 10 years increases your risk of brain tumor formation by 40-170%. That’s a broad range because 3 studies that have been conducted have varying outcomes, but all show increased risk.
- WiFi decreases melatonin production which is NECESSARY for sleep and is a very powerful hormone and antioxidant in the body impacting virtually everything. This is a large reason why sleep issues are often connected to EMF as an environmental issue for patients.
- EMFs increase free radicals in the body, which basically means increases damage from oxidative stress, driving systemic inflammation
- EMFs contribute to leaky blood brain barriers, allowing toxins the ability to encounter the brain when the barrier would normally keep it safe and secluded
- In the case of heavy metal issues in a patient due to amalgam fillings, consuming fish with mercury regularly, or heavy metal exposure due to where they live, work, or play, you see increased sensitivity to EMFs
- If you have a metal surgical implant, it basically acts like a radio frequency antenna, causing major symptoms in some patients, especially those with implants in/near the spine
- Children are at much higher risk of forming long term health issues due to exposure…
3G wasn’t a thing until about 2005, and the latency period for brain tumors is about 25 years. Do the math. Data will come.
How you can decrease risk without living in a bubble:
- DISTANCE! As you double your distance from a device, you decrease exposure by 75%. Try your best to stay 1 meter away from your devices, minimally…that’s about an adult male arm’s length.
- Text. Don’t call.
- Turn off your wireless router when you aren’t using it. In addition, the router is a big source of EMF, so place it in a room you don’t use much.
- Ditch wireless baby monitors.
- Move your bed away from any walls that have a fridge on the other side.
- Don’t carry a cell phone on your person. Men, you’re the biggest offender here because you don’t carry purses. They have even shown bone density changes in the femurs on the side of the cell phone pocket. My guess is that you store yours next to other important bodily parts.
- Do not allow cell phones in the bedroom. You spend 20 years of your life there….
- Turn your phone on airplane mode when you don’t need to use it.
- Disable blue tooth capabilities.
- Ditch wireless headphones.
I know this seems like a lot, but when you consider the timeframe of wifi and cell phone existence, we’ve done a pretty great job existing without these things for a long time. Just like you, I work and conduct business via electronic devices, and I couldn’t be happier to have information from all over the world at my finger tips (it beats that encyclopedia set I had to use in school). However, the little things you can implement to decrease load will only contribute to your health, the health of your kids, and the health of your neighbors (have you ever tried connecting to their router?! We’re in this together). Especially if you have headaches and sleep issues that don’t improve despite living a healthy lifestyle, you may want to take inventory of the home.