Mobile Phones Could Lead to Hearing Loss

A study carried out by India's Post Graduate Institute of Medical Education and Research (PGIMER) has reported that people who use mobile phones in excess of half an hour per day are at higher risk of developing hearing loss, particularly at higher speech frequencies.

"This hearing loss was more in the dominant ear (ear of use). Presence of fullness in the ears, ear warmth, strange noises in the ear are warning signals which should not be ignored," said Dr Naresh Panda, head of the department of Otolaryngology (ENT) at PGIMER, who conducted the 18-month long study.

The study is preliminary, and only involved 100 long term mobile phone users aged 18-45 who had used GSM based mobile phones.

Dr Panda advised that as the study is just a preliminary one, there was no need yet to issue health warnings until further studies had confirmed the findings.

Posted to the site on 13th August 2007