Talking on a mobile for 30 minutes or more per week is linked with a 12% increased risk of high blood pressure compared with less than 30 minutes, according to new UK Biobank analysis. This study examined the relationship between making and receiving phone calls and the risk for incident CVD, with a mediating proportion of 5.11%, 11.50%, and 2.25%, respectively.
“It was found that poor sleep patterns, psychological distress, and neuroticism significantly mediated the positive association”, said study investigator Xianhui Qin, MD, professor of nephrology at Southern Medical University, Guangzhou, China. ‘They could disrupt circadian rhythms and endocrine and metabolic functions, as well as increase inflammation, he added. The researchers analysed the relationship between mobile phone usage and new-onset hypertension after adjusting for age, gender, BMI, race, deprivation, family history of hypertension, smoking status, blood pressure, blood lipids, inflammation, blood glucose, kidney function and use of medications to lower cholesterol or blood glucose levels. In addition, chronic exposure to radiofrequency electromagnetic fields (RF-EMF) emitted from cell phones could lead to oxidative stress and an inflammatory response. Combined with smoking and diabetes, this exposure may have a synergistic effect in increasing CVD risk.
A total of 444,027 participants aged 37 to 73 years (as of 44% men) without hypertension were included without a history of CVD from the UK Biobank. A total of 378,161 participants were regular cell phone users.
