Effects of mobile phones electromagnetic radiation on patients with epilepsy: an EEG study

Abstract

Background: Recently, an exceptional increase was witnessed in cell phone users. The brain has greater exposure to the electromagnetic field (EMF) created during mobile phone use than the rest of the body, which may impair its function. In persons with epilepsy, the brain has more tendencies towards electrical instability. Objectives: The current study aims at investigating the effect of mobile phone radiation (MPR) on the electroencephalogram (EEG) of persons with epilepsy as well as healthy adults. Subjects and methods: Thirty patients with idiopathic epilepsy and 30 matching controls underwent EEG recording including 15 min of sham exposure followed by 30 min of real exposure to MPR and a final post-exposure recording for extra 15 min. The number of abnormal EEG events was counted during sham and real exposure for each subject. Correlation analysis was done between the number of epileptic events detected during the real exposure to MPR and the patients’ clinical data Results: In the control group, the EEG under real MPR exposure showed no abnormal discharges. In persons with epilepsy, all those with abnormal EEG during sham exposure MPR (33%) showed an increase in the number of events with real exposure to MPR. One patient showed a change in the pattern of discharge from interictal changes to an ictal rhythm. Another patient with normal EEG during sham record developed temporal epileptiform discharges during real exposure. Conclusion: Mobile phone radiation shows recognizable effects on the brain rhythm of persons with epilepsy. These results should be confirmed by future studies to establish a recommendation addressing the use of such devices in epileptic patients.