New York (IANS): Do you eat, sleep and drink your mobile phone, literally? Limit your WhatsApp or Facebook urge as men using cell phones for over four hours a day are at a greater risk of impotency than those who use it for less than two hours, an alarming research has indicated.
Two new studies in Austria and Egypt have linked daily cell phone use to erectile dysfunction (ED).
The researchers believe the damage could be caused by the electromagnetic radiation emitted by handsets or the heat they generate.
For the study, the researchers recruited 20 men with erectile dysfunction and another group of 10 healthy men with no complaints of ED.
There was no difference between either group regarding age, weight, height, smoking, total testosterone or exposure to other known sources of radiation.
Scientists found that men who had erectile dysfunction carried switched-on cell phones for an average of 4.4 hours daily, whereas the men without erectile dysfunction averaged 1.8 hours.
“Men who use mobile phones could be risking their fertility,” said the researchers in a report published in the latest newsletter of Environmental Health Trust (EHT).
A non-profit organisation, EHT focuses on raising awareness on the negative impacts of unsafe cell phone use and performing cutting-edge research on cell phone radiation.
However, neither study found sperm count was affected.
“Our study showed the total time of exposure to the cell phone is much more important than the relatively short duration of intense exposure during phone calls,” the researchers noted.
Since the preliminary study was small-scale, the researchers concluded that the results indicated a need for larger-scaled studies.
EDITOR RATTAN MALL ADDS:
Why I have NEVER kept a cellphone!
I am (perhaps) the ONLY journalist on earth who does NOT keep a cellphone and steadfastly refuses to do so – even though my bosses over the years have offered to pay for one!
In fact – are you ready for this? – I have NEVER owned a cellphone!
I know the Guinness World Records is trying to include my name – but I have threatened to sue them (just kidding!)
I just HATE the idea of being on what I call a “dog leash” all the time. It’s like responding to a dog whistle! And being a journalist, I would be “threatened” with an endless barrage of really unnecessary calls – and I’d hate that on the weekends when I want to just unwind.
So if there’s anything really important, folks can email me or call me at the office during workdays – close friends can do so on my personal email or call my home landline and leave a message (I’m hardly ever at home, being single and restless!)
And I get back to people when I want to.
A couple of years ago, Tina Dacin, a Queen’s School of Business professor, said: “[Wireless] isn’t going to take over landlines anytime soon.” She said there wasn’t enough trust across the board in technology.
Landlines are more reliable, have greater call security, do not have the dubious health associations of cellphones, and are still the safest option in an emergency, she noted.
WHAT bugs me the most is the thoughtless, uncultured way that people keep texting while walking, without the slightest regard for others. You have to avoid bumping into them on the sidewalks, in the malls and shops, and even on SkyTrain platforms!
I must confess that I have to quite often fight the urge to knock down their “idol” or “god” and stomp on it!
That old warm spirit of greeting people and interacting in public seems to have died out.
And let’s not mention all those BONEHEADS who still speed down the street while chatting away on their cellphone even though they know it’s illegal and dangerous. I have almost been knocked down downtown on several occasions.
UNFORTUNATELY, technology that we were told would make life simpler and easier and happier for us all has in fact done just the OPPOSITE!
The technological advances have just spawned ruthless competition that does not give a damn for the good old values of decency, compromise and caring. It’s always ‘ME FIRST’ – and to hell with everyone else.
It’s always grab, grab and grab!
I know there are those who try and give back to society – but compared with all the dog-eat-dog businessmen and the greedy, corrupt politicians they control, their efforts are really the proverbial drop in the ocean.
So try and keep your life balanced. Just remember, as Shakespeare put it, time and tide wait for no man. This time is not going to come back – and you’ll regret not having lived your life the way you really should have. (You youth, don’t waste your life on booze and drugs and gangs!)
And when you finally die (we all have to!), you have to leave EVERYTHING behind – yes, that includes your precious cellphone or iPhone or whatever!
“Naked I came from my mother’s womb, and naked I will depart,” as the Bible puts it.
Have a great weekend folks – I will be in Seattle – WITHOUT a cellphone!
