Does Microwave Radiation Cause Headaches?

Have you ever experienced a headache after a long day at the computer or after a long call? It's such a common complaint that we decided to look into it and see what kinds of independent research has been done on the topic of headaches and radiation.

It seems like a simple question: Does microwave radiation cause headaches?

And we found research dating back to the mid 20th century about this topic. Most of the studies we found answered the question in the affirmative. It seems like yes, the exposure that we have to microwave radiation day in and day out, can cause headaches.

Early Research from Dr. Allan Frey

“The most important point that came out of the microwave hearing research I did in the 1960s is the finding that my human subjects were reporting headaches.” 

This quote comes from Dr. Allan H. Frey. He has been looking into the relationship between electromagnetic fields and headaches since the 1970s. He reports that concrete evidence of headaches due to low-intensity microwaves was offered back in the 1960s.

Aside from the anecdotal stories of his subjects, Dr. Allan also observed that the breakdown of the blood-brain barrier results in headaches, and that microwave energy can penetrate and break down that barrier. 

The blood-brain barrier sits between the skull and the brain, serving as a vital filter that prevents toxins (such as EMF) from penetrating the brain and at night it is cleaned up when the powerful anti-oxidant melatonin is released from the pineal gland as we sleep, as we de-tox overnight. This is a vital part of our immune function. 

As a third point of interest, Frey offers that there is now a substantial body of evidence indicating low-intensity microwaves can influence the dopamine-opiate systems of the brain and can result in headaches.

This aspect of his research piqued our interest. His research into the effect of electromagnetic fields on the physical aspects of the blood-brain barrier and dopamine-opiate system aligns with our science. In his research, he observes that the wave fields affect the physical balance of the body. He has been talking about this fact for more than 30 years and we now know why this is happening (the imbalanced wireless radiation fields create imbalances in the body, and we see these breakdowns). 

Of course, the findings of Dr. Frey are just the beginning. Independent researchers  from all over the world have asked this question and reported their findings.

Studies on Microwaves and Headaches

Dr. Pall and Microwave Syndrome

Martin L. Pall also reported about "microwave syndrome" due to the occupational exposures to lower frequency microwave radiation fields. This syndrome is characterized by various neuropsychiatric symptoms including headache, fatigue, abnormal sensation, absentmindedness, and sleeplessness.

Yes, this is so well known that there is a syndrome associated with it.

Pall also included two United States government reports between the 1970s and 1980s that reported analogous but wide ranging neuropsychiatric symptoms of the occupational exposure to the microwave frequency electromagnetic radiations (EMFs).

Occupational Microwave Exposure and Headaches

A study on occupational exposure by Dasdag and his colleagues for the Journal of Biotechnology & Biotechnological Equipment, surveyed workers who were employed at a medium-wave broadcasting station and television transmitter station with different frequency ranges.

Their questionnaire-based surveys revealed that the employees experienced stress, fatigue, insomnia, and headaches when they were under the effect of microwave radiation and that symptoms disappeared when they left the environment.

In 1993, the World Health Organization confirmed the occurrence of headaches due to the workers' industrial or occupational exposure to microwaves and radiofrequency fields. 

Okay - but what is "occupational exposure" now? Today, most of us are on our phones and computers all day for work and then for play. We're constantly exposed to microwave radiation.

Headaches Around Mobile Phone Stations and Smart Meters

Abdel-Rassoul and his colleagues conducted a study under the title, “Neurobehavioral effects among inhabitants around mobile phone stations” for the Menoufiya University in Egypt in 2007.

They reported that the EMFs released from the mobile phone base station caused a considerable effect on the nervous system of people living around those stations. They observed notable symptoms of headache, vertigo, shocks, memory reduction, depression, and insomnia.

A survey conducted by Eger and Jahn in 2009 in Selbitz, Germany provided similar results of the microwave radiation exposure from the mobile phone base station.

Both tested the dose-effects relationship and found a direct relationship between the residential proximity between the microwave frequency EMFs and the exposure group. The apparent neuropsychiatric symptoms were headache, cerebral symptoms, skin issues, infections, dizziness, depression, and disorders of optical and acoustic sensory systems.

We're sensing a pattern here.

In 2014, Dr. Federica Lamech  stated that “In 2006, the government in the state of Victoria, Australia, mandated the rollout of smart meters in Victoria, which effectively removed a whole population's ability to avoid exposure to human-made high-frequency non-ionizing radiation…By August 2013, 142 people had reported adverse health effects from wireless smart meters by submitting information on an Australian public Web site using its health and legal registers.”

Dr. Lamech revealed the fact that the symptoms such as headaches, sleeplessness, fatigue, cognitive disturbances, impaired sensation, tinnitus, dizziness appeared in this study are similar to those that appeared after the exposure to radiofrequency radiations released by devices other than smart meters.   

The table is directly taken from the study:

Table 1. The reported number of studies revealing the neuropsychiatric symptoms of microwave frequency EMFs.

Symptoms	Numbers of Reporting Studies
Sleep disturbance/insomnia	17
Headache	14
Fatigue/tiredness	11
Depression/depressive symptoms	10
Concentration/attention/cognitive dysfunction	10
Dysesthesia (vision/hearing/olfactory dysfunction)	10
Dizziness/vertigo	9
Restlessness/tension/anxiety/stress/agitation/feeling of discomfort	8
Memory changes	8
Irritablity	7
Skin tingling/burning/ inflammation/ dermographism	6
Loss of appetite/body weight	6
Nausea	5

Headaches with Regular Phone Use 

In 2004, Al-Khlaiwi and Meo also shared similar findings as the studies on the smart meters and the mobile phone stations when they conducted a study in the Department of Physiology for King Saud University in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

437 subjects with 55.1% males and 39.9% females participated. The clinical findings of the study depicted that there was a very high percentage of 21.6% of headache-affected individuals. Additionally, they saw dizziness, fatigue, tension, and sleep disturbance afflicted samples were observed at 2.4%, 3%, 3.9%, and 4%, respectively.

How to Reduce Headaches from Microwaves

Findings in the literature related to microwave frequency radiation say that they can have far-ranging impact on the health of human beings and have damaging effects on the cell structure of living cells.

If you're experiencing regular headaches from exposure to microwave radiation, the best thing you can do is to reduce your exposure overall. Spend a couple of hours at least everyday away from your phone and all of your radiating devices.

Put your phone down whenever possible, and don't keep it in your pocket.

Research and choose science-based products that can help you keep your body's energy in balance, even when you're surrounded by the electrosmog.

If you spend a lot of time on the phone, try to use speakerphone and make sure that you are choosing the right headphones for you. Make sure that you're keeping the devices away from your head.

Get your phone out of your bedroom. Don't sleep with your phone by your bed, or put it on airplane mode so that it doesn't send and receive signal while you're asleep.

What helps your EMF Headaches? Let us know in the comments!

 

 

Headaches due to Microwaves References and Studies

Sharma, A. B., & Lamba, O. S. (2017). A review: source and effect of mobile communication radiation on human health. Advances in Wireless and Mobile Communications, 10(3), 423-35.

Chattopadhyay, P. K. MICROWAVE RADIATION-AN IMPENDING THREAT FOR LIVING WORLD.

Chia, S. E., Chia, H. P., & Tan, J. S. (2000). Prevalence of headache among handheld cellular telephone users in Singapore: a community study. Environmental health perspectives, 108(11), 1059–1062. https://doi.org/10.1289/ehp.001081059

Sienkiewicz, Z. J., Blackwell, R. P., Haylock, R. G., Saunders, R. D., & Cobb, B. L. (2000). Low-level exposure to pulsed 900 MHz microwave radiation does not cause deficits in the performance of a spatial learning task in mice. Bioelectromagnetics, 21(3), 151–158. https://doi.org/10.1002/(sici)1521-186x(200004)21:3<151::aid-bem1>3.0.co;2-q

Pall M. L. (2016). Microwave frequency electromagnetic fields (EMFs) produce widespread neuropsychiatric effects including depression. Journal of chemical neuroanatomy, 75(Pt B), 43–51. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jchemneu.2015.08.001

Frey A. H. (1998). Headaches from cellular telephones: are they real and what are the implications?. Environmental health perspectives, 106(3), 101–103. https://doi.org/10.1289/ehp.98106101

Zhi, WJ., Wang, LF. & Hu, XJ. Recent advances in the effects of microwave radiation on brains. Military Med Res 4, 29 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1186/s40779-017-0139-0

WHO. Electromagnetic Fields (300 Hz to 300 GHz). Environmental Health Criteria 137. Geneva:World Health Organization, 1993.

Lamech F. (2014). Self-reporting of symptom development from exposure to radiofrequency fields of wireless smart meters in victoria, australia: a case series. Alternative therapies in health and medicine, 20(6), 28–39.

Eger H, Jahn M. 2010 Specific symptoms and radiation from mobile basis stations in Selbitz, Bavaria, Germany: evidence for dose-effect relationship. Umwelt – Medizin Gesellschaft 23:130-139.

Al-Khlaiwi T, Meo SA. 2004 Association of mobile phone radiation with fatigue, headache, dizziness, tension and sleep disturbance in Saudi population. Saudi Med J 25:732-6

Abdel-Rassoul, G., El-Fateh, O. A., Salem, M. A., Michael, A., Farahat, F., El-Batanouny, M., & Salem, E. (2007). Neurobehavioral effects among inhabitants around mobile phone base stations. Neurotoxicology, 28(2), 434–440. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neuro.2006.07.012

Pall M. L. (2016). Microwave frequency electromagnetic fields (EMFs) produce widespread neuropsychiatric effects including depression. Journal of chemical neuroanatomy, 75(Pt B), 43–51. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jchemneu.2015.08.001

Dasdag, K. Balci, M.S. Celik, S. Batun, A. Kaplan, Z. Bolaman, S. Tekes & Z. Akdag. 1992 Neurologic and Biochemical Findings and CD4/CD8 Ratio in People Occupationally Exposed to RF and Microwave, Biotechnology & Biotechnological Equipment, 6:4, 37-39

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