Electromagnetic hypersensitivity: evidence for a novel neurological syndrome

A paper just accepted for publication by the International Journal of Neuroscience
David E. McCarty, M.D., Simona Carrubba, Ph.D., Andrew L., Chesson, Jr., M.D., Clifton Frilot, II, Ph.D., Eduardo GonzalezToledo, M.D., Andrew A. Marino, Ph.D.
doi:10.3109/00207454.2011.608139

ABSTRACT

Objective: We sought direct evidence that acute exposure to environmentalstrength
electromagnetic fields could induce somatic reactions (EMF hypersensitivity).

Methods: The subject, a female physician selfdiagnosed with EMF hypersensitivity, was exposed to an average (over the head) 60Hz electric field of 300 V/m (comparable to typical environmental strength EMFs) during controlled provocation and behavioral studies.

Results: In a doubleblinded EMF provocation procedure specifically designed to minimize unintentional sensory cues, the subject developed temporal pain, headache, muscletwitching,
and skipped heartbeats within 100 s after initiation of EMF exposure (P < 0.05). The symptoms were caused primarily by field transitions (offon, onoff) rather than the presence of the field, as assessed by comparing the frequency and severity of the effects of pulsed and continuous fields in relation to sham exposure. The subject had no conscious perception of the field as judged byher inability to report its presence more often than in the sham control.

Discussion: The subject demonstrated statistically reliable somatic reactions in response to exposure to subliminal EMFs under conditions that reasonably excluded a causative role for psychological processes.

Conclusion: EMF hypersensitivity can occur as a bona fide environmentally inducible neurological syndrome.
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