Healthy living
Body matters
Mobile phones may spoil your sleep
Insomnia and headaches could be triggered by late-night mobile use, say scientists
Talking on your mobile phone before going to bed could rob you of a good night’s sleep, according to research carried out by a team of scientists from Sweden and the US.
The study, published by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s Progress in Electromagnetics Research Symposium, involved 71 men and women aged between 18 and 45.
Under laboratory conditions the volunteers were either exposed to radiation equivalent to mobile phone use or were given a 'sham' exposure. Interestingly, the subjects were unable to tell whether they were really being exposed to the radiation or given the sham treatment. Participants were analysed as they slept and the researchers noted the quality of their sleep.
The team found that the subjects exposed to the radiation took longer to enter deep sleep and spent a shorter time in it, disrupting the body’s ability to repair the damage of the day.
The study indicates that during laboratory exposure to 884 MHz wireless signals, components of sleep believed to be important for recovery from daily wear and tear are adversely affected,’ the team conclude in their report.
Participants exposed to the radiation also reported more headaches.
Mobiles may inhibit sleep because the radiation they send out seems to affect the way the brain deals with stress. "Mobile phone use is associated with specific changes in the areas of the brain responsible for activating and coordinating the stress system," says lead researcher Professor Bengt Arnetz.
The Mobile Manufacturers Forum, who sponsored the research, played down the results. "We should be cautious about interpreting the results from any individual or single study," they said in a statement.
"Other studies in this field have, for example, not found any significant effects on latter sleep stages or sleep parameters."
In 2000 the Stewart Report, commissioned by the government, recommended a cautionary approach to the use of mobile phones due to a lack of scientific knowledge available.
However in 2007 the Mobile Telecommunications & Health Research Programme, the largest investigation in the UK into the possible health risks, concluded that mobile phones have not been found to be associated with any biological or adverse health effects.
Information on this site is for interest only and is not a substitute for professional medical advice. You should consult your own doctor about any specific health concerns.