Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Heart Rate Variability Components in Electromagnetic Hypersensitive Persons

  • Living reference work entry
  • First Online:
Handbook of Computational Neurodegeneration

  • 37 Accesses

Abstract

Electromagnetic radiation hypersensitivity (EHS) has been recognized as a rare chronic condition potentially associated with various serious comorbidities. This chapter assesses the effect of a cellular phone exposure on the autonomic nervous system (ANS) of the heart – as indexed by heart rate variability (HRV) – in persons with EHS. Previous studies were evaluated with the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) protocol. Three studies were identified, which included 95 subjects with EHS and which reported components of the frequency domain. A meta-analysis was performed with the aid of Hedge’s g correction of Cohen d for small samples and demonstrated that EHS individuals had variable HRV reactions. The low /high frequency (LF/HF) analysis showed an increase in the parasympathetic tone, which is normally beneficial to heart function as an adaptation to external stimuli. The random effect of cell phone use in EHS was calculated as g = 0.225 with 95% CI [0.12, 0.572], showing a small increase in HRV in cell phone exposed EHS subjects similar to that of non-EHS individuals.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Log in via an institution

Institutional subscriptions

References

  • Augner C, Gnambs T, Winker R, Barth A (2012) Acute effects of electromagnetic fields emitted by GSM mobile phones on subjective well-being and physiological reactions: a meta-analysis. Sci Total Environ 424:11–15

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Aydemir M, Yazisiz V, Basarici I, Avci AB, Erbasan F, Belgi A, Terzioglu E (2010) Cardiac autonomic profile in rheumatoid arthritis and systemic lupus erythematosus. Lupus 19(3):255–261

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Baan R, Grosse Y, Lauby-Secretan B, El Ghissassi F, Bouvard V, Benbrahim-Tallaa L, Guha N, Islami F, Galichet L, Straif K (2011) Carcinogenicity of radiofrequency electromagnetic fields. Lancet Oncol 12(7):624–626

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Belyaev I, Dean A, Eger H, Hubmann G, Jandrisovits R, Kern M, Kundi M, Moshammer H, Lercher P, Muller K, Oberfeld G, Ohnsorge P, Pelzmann P, Scheingraber C, Thill R (2016) EUROPAEM EMF guideline 2016 for the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of EMF-related health problems and illnesses. Rev Environ Health 31(3):363–397

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Billman GE (2013) The LF/HF ratio does not accurately measure cardiac sympatho-vagal balance. Front Physiol 4:26

    PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Boudreau P, Yeh WH, Dumont GA, Boivin DB (2013) Circadian variation of heart rate variability across sleep stages. Sleep 36(12):1919–1928

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Braune S, Riedel A, Schulte-Monting J, Raczek J (2002) Influence of a radiofrequency electromagnetic field on cardiovascular and hormonal parameters of the autonomic nervous system in healthy individuals. Radiat Res 158:352–356

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Cohen J (1960) A coefficient of agreement of nominal scales. J Educ Psychol Meas XX:37–46

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cohen D (1988) Statistical power analysis for the behavioral sciences. L. Erlbaum Associates, Hillsdale

    Google Scholar 

  • Dimova R, Tankova T, Chakarova N, Groseva G, Dakovska L (2015) Cardiovascular autonomic tone relation to metabolic parameters and hsCRP in normoglycemia and prediabetes. Diabetes Res Clin Pract 109(2):262–270

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Epidemiology IRSCO (2001) Review of the epidemiologic literature on EMF and health. Environ Health Perspect 109(Suppl 6):911–933

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fang G, Brooks JM, Chrischilles EA (2012) Apples and oranges? Interpretations of risk adjustment and instrumental variable estimates of intended treatment effects using observational data. Am J Epidemiol 175(1):60–65

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • FCC (2014) Specific absorption rate (SAR) for cell phones: what it means for you guide. From http://www.fcc.gov/guides/specific-absorption-rate-sar-cell-phones-what-it-means-you

  • Frei P, Mohler E, Burgi A, Frohlich J, Neubauer G, Braun-Fahrlander C, Roosli M (2009) A prediction model for personal radio frequency electromagnetic field exposure. Sci Total Environ 408(1):102–108

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Frei P, Mohler E, Burgi A, Frohlich J, Neubauer G, Braun-Fahrlander C, Roosli M (2010) Classification of personal exposure to radiofrequency electromagnetic fields (RF-EMF) for epidemiological research: evaluation of different assessment methods. Environ Int 36(7):714–720

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Geronikolou S (2018) Mobile phone use effect on autonomic nervous and cardiac systems. Geendis 2018. Canada

    Google Scholar 

  • Geronikolou S, Zimeras S, Davos CH, Michalopoulos I, Tsitomeneas S (2014) Diverse radiofrequency sensitivity and radiofrequency effects of mobile or cordless phone near fields exposure in Drosophila melanogaster. PLoS One 9(11):e112139

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Guiraud T, Labrunee M, Gaucher-Cazalis K, Despas F, Meyer P, Bosquet L, Gales C, Vaccaro A, Bousquet M, Galinier M, Senard JM, Pathak A (2013) High-intensity interval exercise improves vagal tone and decreases arrhythmias in chronic heart failure. Med Sci Sports Exerc 45(10):1861–1867

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hardell L, Carlberg M (2014) Mobile phone and cordless phone use and the risk for glioma – analysis of pooled case-control studies in Sweden, 1997–2003 and 2007–2009. Pathophysiology 22(1):1–13

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hedges L (1981) Distribution theory for glass’ estimator of effect size and related estimators. J Educ Stat 6:107–128

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Huber R, Schuderer J, Graf T, Jutz K, Borbely A, Kuster N, Achermann P (2003) Radiofrequency electromagnetic field exposure in humans: estimation of SAR distribution in the brain, effects on sleep and heart rate. Bioelectromagnetics 24:262–276

    Google Scholar 

  • IARC (2011) IARC classifies radiofrequency fields as possible carcinogenic to humans. I. A. R. C, World Health Organization, Lyon

    Google Scholar 

  • ICNIRP (2009) Guidelines for limiting exposure to time-varying electric, magnetic, and electromagnetic fields (up to 300 GHz). Health Phys 97(3):257–258

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kwon MK, Choi JY, Kim SK, Yoo TK, Kim DW (2012) Effects of radiation emitted by WCDMA mobile phones on electromagnetic hypersensitive subjects. Environ Health 11:69

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Moher D, Liberati A, Tetzlaff J, Altman DG (2009) Preferred reporting items for systematic reviews and meta-analyses: the PRISMA statement. J Clin Epidemiol 62(10):1006–1012

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Nam KC, Lee JH, Noh HW, Cha EJ, Kim NH, K. DW. (2009) Hypersensitivity to RF fields emitted from CDMA cellular phones: a provocational study. Bioelectromagnetics 30:641–650

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Nam KC, Kwon MK, Kim DW (2011) Effects of posture and acute sleep deprivation on heart rate variability. Yonsei Med J 52(4):569–573

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Olshansky B, Sabbah HN, Hauptman PJ, Colucci WS (2008) Parasympathetic nervous system and heart failure: pathophysiology and potential implications for therapy. Circulation 118(8):863–871

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • OSHA (1990) Electromagnetic radiation and how it affects your instruments. Near field vs. far field. From http://www.osha.gov/SLTC/radiofrequencyradiation/electromagnetic_fieldmemo/electromagnetic.html

  • Parazzini M, Ravazzani P, Thuroczy G, Molnar FB, Ardesi G, Sacchettini A, Mainardi LT (2013) Nonlinear heart rate variability measures under electromagnetic fields produced by GSM mobile phones. Electromagn Biol Med 32(2):173–181

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Porges SW (2007) The polyvagal perspective. Biol Psychol 74(2):116–143

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Reisinger HS (2004) Counting apples as oranges: epidemiology and ethnography in adolescent substance abuse treatment. Qual Health Res 14(2):241–258

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Roy A, Guatimosim S, Prado VF, Gros R, Prado MA (2014) Cholinergic activity as a new target in diseases of the heart. Mol Med 20:527–537

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Task Force of the European Society of Cardiology and the North American Society of Electrophysiology (1996) Heart rate variability, standards of measurement, physiological interpretation and clinical use. Eur Heart J 17:354–381

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Thanou K (2014) Heart rate variability: New window in Lupus Disease activity. 14th annual meeting of the American College of Rheumatology Boston

    Google Scholar 

  • Thayer JF, Sternberg E (2006) Beyond heart rate variability: vagal regulation of allostatic systems. Ann N Y Acad Sci 1088:361–372

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Voronin IM, Biriukova EV (2006) Heart rate variability in healthy humans during night sleep. Fiziol Cheloveka 32(3):13–18

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Vrijheid M, Mann S, Vecchia P, Wiart J, Taki M, Ardoino L, Armstrong BK, Auvinen A, Bedard D, Berg-Beckhoff G, Brown J, Chetrit A, Collatz-Christensen H, Combalot E, Cook A, Deltour I, Feychting M, Giles GG, Hepworth SJ, Hours M, Iavarone I, Johansen C, Krewski D, Kurttio P, Lagorio S, Lonn S, McBride M, Montestrucq L, Parslow RC, Sadetzki S, Schuz J, Tynes T, Woodward A, Cardis E (2009) Determinants of mobile phone output power in a multinational study: implications for exposure assessment. Occup Environ Med 66(10):664–671

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Whitlock EP, Lopez SA, Chang S, Helfand M, Eder M, Floyd N (2010) AHRQ series paper 3: identifying, selecting, and refining topics for comparative effectiveness systematic reviews: AHRQ and the effective health-care program. J Clin Epidemiol 63(5):491–501

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • WHO (2014) Electromagnetic fields and public health: mobile phones. From http://www.who.int/mediacentre/factsheets/fs193/en/

  • Wright C, Lopipero P, Smith A (1997) Meta-analysis and risk assessment. In: Steenland K, Savitz D (eds) Topics in Environmental Epidemiology. Oxford University Press, New York, pp 28–63

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Clinical, Experimental Surgery, Translational Research Centre, Biomedical Research Foundation of the Academy of Athens, Athens, Greece

    Styliani A. Geronikolou, George P. Chrousos & Dennis V. Cokkinos

  2. UNESCO Chair on Adolescent Health Care, Geneva, Switzerland

    Styliani A. Geronikolou & George P. Chrousos

  3. University Research Institute of Maternal and Child Health and Precision Medicine, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Athens, Greece

    Styliani A. Geronikolou & George P. Chrousos

Authors
  1. Styliani A. Geronikolou
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. George P. Chrousos
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Dennis V. Cokkinos
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Styliani A. Geronikolou .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Informatics, Ionian University Department of Informatics, Corfu, Greece

    Panayiotis Vlamos

  2. Wilfrid Laurier University, Brantford, Canada

    Ilias S. Kotsireas

  3. ResearchGate, ETH Zurich ResearchGate, Zurich, Zürich, Switzerland

    Ioannis Tarnanas

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2021 Springer Nature Switzerland AG

About this entry

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this entry

Geronikolou, S.A., Chrousos, G.P., Cokkinos, D.V. (2021). Heart Rate Variability Components in Electromagnetic Hypersensitive Persons. In: Vlamos, P., Kotsireas, I.S., Tarnanas, I. (eds) Handbook of Computational Neurodegeneration. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-75479-6_54-1

Download citation

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-75479-6_54-1

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-319-75479-6

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-319-75479-6

  • eBook Packages: Springer Reference Biomedicine and Life SciencesReference Module Biomedical and Life Sciences

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation