FIONA McRAE, "Phones CAN make you ill", Daily Mail, September 12, 2005,
Link:
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/health/healthmain.html?in_article
_id=362073&in_page_id=1774&in_a_source=

Radiation from mobile phones, computers and microwave ovens could be
damaging your health, Government experts are to admit for the first
time.

In a report next month, they will acknowledge that the items could be
causing headaches, joint pain, depression and fatigue in some users who
have developed a sensitivity to electricity.

Tens of thousands of people in the UK are thought to suffer from the
condition, called electrosensitivity, yet it is not formally recognised
by the medical profession.

Some sufferers even become affected by the radiation in electromagnetic
fields surrounding everyday items such as hairdryers and televisions.

However, their complaints are often dismissed by GPs as being purely
psychological.

Campaigners hope that acknowledgement of the condition in a report by
the Health Protection Agency will lead to better treatment of sufferers
and research into cures.

But it could also open the floodgates to legal action by patients who
claim mobile phone masts have made them ill.

Rod Read, of the charity Electrosensitivity UK, said: "It's very
difficult for people to get a diagnosis because it's not officially
recognised as an illness.

"Doctors have no training in it whatsoever. Some are more sympathetic
than others but most try to look for interpretations such as work
stress.

"They treat individual symptoms rather than the underlying cause."

Women suffer worst

More women than men suffer from electrosensitivity, which is often
triggered by intensive mobile phone or computer use.

Over time, sufferers - who often have other allergies - find they
become increasingly affected by electrical equipment such as
televisions, fridges and cookers. Symptoms include headaches,
"tingling" of the joints and ringing in the ears.

Many people also experience extreme tiredness, memory and concentration
problems and depression.

Sufferers often claim they are being "zapped" by the electromagnetic
fields emitted by electrical devices.

Mr Read said: "It's life-shattering for a lot of people in terms of
employment and where they live and what they can do.

"They experience disbelief and ridicule from their partner, best friend
and boss.

"People change jobs, they give up work, they drop out of view, they
become isolated and depressed."

Campaign group Powerwatch believes up to five per cent of the
population is severely affected by electrosensitivity.

And up to a third of people could be suffering some ill effects of our
hi-tech society.

Lifestlye change

However, if electrosensitivity is diagnosed at an early stage,
sufferers can make changes to their lifestyle which could stop them
developing reactions to other electrical goods.

For instance, if they realised their mobile phone was the root of the
problem, they could stop using it.

Radiation from mobile phone masts can be screened out by lining walls
with a layer of aluminium foil and hanging special silver-plated
curtains over windows, while a thinner form of the same material can be
slung over beds.

In Sweden, where electrosensitivity is recognised, sufferers receive
grants to replace electric cookers with gas stoves.

In their workplaces, electrical flexes are replaced with
highly-insulated cables to reduce the emission of radiation.