Electromagnetic field and Epilepsy

Richard GAUTIER, Louis GOUGEON, Roger SANTINI
www.csif-cem.org le 04/06/2003

Reminder (extracts WHO N°165 revised in 2001) :

Epilepsy is a neurological disorder of which the crises are the result of electric sudden excessive disposals, generally brief, in a group of cerebral cells (neurones). These electric disposals can take place in different parties of the brain. The demonstrations clinics of the crises are therefore variable and depend on location and function of the cerebral touched cells.
Epilepsy is often but not always the result of an other cerebral disease. In the cases where we cannot identify the origin the theory the most widely accepted at the present time is than it is the result of an imbalance between chemical substances in the brain, in particular the chemical messengers known under the name of neurotransmitters.
Until 5% habitants of the globe will have maybe a crisis in their life.
Epilepsy can have physical and psychological consequences engrave, of which the dead subite, traumatisms or disturbances of the mood.
One knows that there exist the factors releasing with certain patients, for example certain effects of scintillement (music libraries, television, etc.), the hyperpnée, the hyperhydratation, the sleep lack, stress it emotional or physical. It is important to note that these factors are not the causes of epilepsy, but that they have an influence on the moment where produce themselves the crises.

Electromagnetic fields (EMF) and epilepsy.

In the causes :
It cannot be question in the state of the current scientific knowledge to imply the CEM in the causes of very epilepsy if the question remains unresolved for the cases where of the disruptions of the neurotransmitters are evoked as the can do the CEM (to see for example the chapter on the acetylcholine).

In the triggering of the crises of the studies (5,6) showed since a long time influences it magnetic fields on epilepsy and recent studies specified these data :
Etudes on the animal: Beason and al (1) showed the increase of the excitement rate of neurones aviaires in response to a signal GSM to a SAR of 0,05 w/kg (peak of 0,1 mW/cm2)
Action rediscovered equally by Zhang and coll. (29) with the rat or by Tattersall and coll. (30) or by Sidorenko and coll. (2) that characterized this activity action like epilepsy
Marino and coll (26) showed these modifications of the electric activity with the rabbit.

Action on man:
The studies having showed modifications at the level of the eeg, therefore cerebral electric activity, with the man are very numerous (7 to 25), the minimum level of exposition having showed an effect of 1,9 v/m (7) be widely under the exposition doses generated by the telephones and on the order of the one received by the riverside ones of base station. The effects on attained persons of epilepsy were equally shown (27) as well as the significant increase of the epilepsy risk with company workers of electricity (28).

Mechanism:
Action at the level of the electric synapse (Gap junction) and modifications of the intercellular communications (3) explained by certain (4) by an internalisation of the proteines of the synapse and or by modification of the calcium intracellular level. Some authors do equally to intervene the modifications at the level of the neurotransmitters.

Conclusion :

If the comprehension of the origin of epilepsy necessitates again researches, the reasons relating to the triggering of the crises or to the favorisation of these are a lot more clear ones and the CEM, that this be in very low frequencies as the one of the electricity or in radiofrequencies such the one of the mobile communication are shown as able to release epilepsy crises.

References

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