Mobiles 'don't raise cancer risk'

this kind of stuff makes me sick... people are going to actually believe this is true... then wonder why they get a tumor....
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/4628914.stm
'Biased reporting'
Research author Professor Patricia McKinney, Professor of Paediatric Epidemiology at the Leeds University, said: "For regular mobile phone users, there was no increased risk of developing a glioma associated with mobile phone use."

She acknowledged that there appeared to be an increased risk among brain cancer sufferers on the side of the head where they held the phone.

The team, however, did not put this down to a causal link, because almost exactly the same decreased risk was seen on the other side of the head, leaving no overall increase risk of tumours for mobile phone users.

Instead, they blamed biased reporting from brain tumour sufferers who knew what side of the head their tumours were on.

Another research team member, Professor Anthony Swerdlow of the Institute of Cancer Research, said: "It would be very misleading to the public to say that because there was a positive that this (mobile phones) causes brain tumours."

He explained: "If we had found a raised risk overall and it was all coming from one side, I would believe there was a real case.

"But as there is a drop on the opposing side - the overall risk is not raised.

"That makes it rather unlikely that there is a raised risk."

But he added that epidemiological studies could never show there was no risk of an activity, they could only suggest there was no raised risk.

'Growing evidence'
The Health Protection Agency said the research was good news, but that it did not give mobile phones a clean bill of health.

The board said it would not be changing its advice that children should not make unnecessary mobile phone calls.

Dr Kat Arney, science information officer at Cancer Research UK, said research such as this was vital for getting to the environmental causes of cancer.

"This is the biggest and most thorough study into mobile phones and glioma so far, and it adds to the growing evidence that there is no link.

"Although we still don't know about the very long-term effects of phone use, these results are reassuring for everyone with a mobile."