There is no evidence that cell phones cause carcinomas

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There is no evidence that cell phones cause carcinomas
There is no evidence that cell phones cause carcinomas
Anonim

This is claimed by another well-known expert in oncology research - Dr. Andrey Garazha - a leading researcher from the First Oncology Research and Consultative Center in Russia, an expert in applied biomedical technologies.

Dr. Garage, what is the prevalence of this insidious disease – brain cancer?

- The incidence of cancer, incl. and of the brain, significantly increases with age. It is generally less common in children, although it is second only to leukemia in them. Further with age, the prevalence of cancer remains at the back, after lung, breast, bowel and prostate cancer. On average, the prevalence among adults is one to three percent. One may get the impression that this disease has become younger and more common because of the tragic stories of famous people in their prime. But these are isolated cases that do not give us the right to talk about a change in statistics. In addition, nowadays diagnostics are much more accessible and effective, so the disease is often detected at an early stage. And yet, early detection of brain tumor has been a difficult task until now.

The problem is that this organ has a very complex structure and diverse cell types, and in this regard, there are more than 120 types of brain cancer. Depending on where the tumor is located, the symptoms can be absolutely different: from impaired coordination in walking to impaired vision, hearing, memory, etc. Similar symptoms are manifested in many other neurological diseases, so patients often end up at the neurologist and only after that - at the oncologist. From here new difficulties arise. Even if specialists manage to detect a neoplasm in the brain with the help of magnetic resonance or computed tomography, it is also necessary to understand whether this tumor is benign or malignant. This is clarified with the help of a biopsy, which in this case is a complex neurosurgical intervention in itself. In a word, in practice, there is often a serious delay in the detection and treatment of the disease. If the specialists manage to make the diagnosis of a brain tumor and start treatment in a timely manner, then in 65-60 percent of the cases five-year survival of the patients is reached.

Can a high degree of predisposition to this disease be determined?

- Genetic research is actively being conducted and it is now known that certain specific types of brain tumors are associated with certain mutations in genes. However, firstly, the confidence level is still not high enough because brain cancer is a relatively rare disease and the selection of patients is not large. Secondly, our known genetic features determine the development of this disease in no more than 10-15%. In such cases, it is necessary to carefully follow the family history to find out whether there is an unfavorable heredity.

And yet what are the main risk factors?

- According to scientific research data, the most serious risk factor for the development of a brain tumor, and not only that, is ionizing radiation. It destroys DNA and leads to dangerous mutations in genes, provoking the development of cancer. In practice, those who live near nuclear power plants can suffer from such radiation - there is a risk of accidents, buried radioactive waste and areas with increased natural radiation background on Earth. There is also risk in the extraction and processing of minerals. There is no doubt that cosmic radiation, which we actively "catch" by flying in airplanes, also has an effect. There are no statistical data yet, but it cannot be ruled out that frequent flying can significantly increase the risk of brain cancer. And as for the radiation from cell phones that many people fear, it is not ionizing. It is possible that in the future we will find data on some negative influence of electromagnetic fields from cell phones, but so far there is no reliable confirmation of their danger on the brain.

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