who are sensitive but this equipment may provide a useful diagnostic tool for diabetics with electrical sensitivity.
The rate of increase in both type 1 and type 2 diabetes cannot be explained entirely by changes in lifestyle and genetics. Some environmental trigger with epigenetic consequences or some other mechanism may be at play here and this environmental trigger may be our ever-increasing exposure to electrosmog.8
Case #3: Multiple Sclerosis and Power Quality
A 40-year old female had severe symptoms of secondary progressive multiple sclerosis (MS). She was unable to walk without the help of a walker and had such terrible tremors that she was unable to feed or otherwise take care of herself. The power quality in her home was poor. The major source was a plasma TV.
Dirty electricity is defined as electricity flowing along electrical wires that deviates from the normal (clean) 60-Hz sine wave (Fig. 3) as measured by an oscilloscope. A microsurge meter provides a numeric value in GS (Graham-Stetzer) units for the change in voltage with change in time, (dv/dt). Values below 40 are ideal. Values above 2000 have been associated with cancers.9 Just as dirty water, dirty air, and contaminated food can make people ill, dirty electricity seems to have the same effect.
Figure 3. Electricity in North America is a pure 60-Hz sine wave (left figure). When it is contaminated with higher frequency transients and harmonic it resembles the curve on the right. The microsurges between the 2 and 100 kH range are harmful to human and animal health.
By installing specially tuned capacitors (or filters) into electrical outlets the dirty electricity in her home was reduced from 148-2000 to 27-36 GS units. After 6-weeks of living in a cleaner electromagnetic environment her symptoms improved considerably. While she still required a walker, the tremors in her hands subsided sufficiently to enable her to feed herself. In this example, poor power quality or dirty electricity was the environmental agent that was reduced resulting in significant improvements in MS symptoms with no changes in medication (Fig. 4). A video of the symptoms before and after the power quality was improved is available at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xdtIPb3Veuw. Similar results were obtained within a few days to several weeks with other MS patients, although not everyone tested improved.10
Figure 4. 40-year old female with secondary progressive multiple sclerosis. Levels of dirty electricity are elevated (photo on left) and reduced by GS filters (photo on right).
If these results are not sufficiently convincing that the electromagnetic environment can alter MS symptoms, then perhaps a MRI scan can provide additional evidence. A MRI scan of a male diagnosed with MS shows reduced sclerosis within the brain 7 years after he had GS filters installed in his home that reduced levels of dirty electricity (Fig 5).
Figure 5. MRI scan of brain of male diagnosed with multiple sclerosis. Sclerotic regions in the brain appear as bright spots. The scan on left was taken in 2001 while patient was symptomatic. The scan on right was taken 7 years (2008) after GS filters were installed in the home and levels of dirty electricity were reduced. Note the absence/reduction of sclerotic lesions in 2008.
The effect of electromagnetic frequencies on MS needs further study as we do not know the mechanism involved. Nor do we know the role electrosmog plays in the initiation, development, progression, and remission of this illness, or how many people with MS are also electrosensitive.
Case #4: Rouleaux Formation of the Blood
According to Wikipedia:
Rouleaux (singular is rouleau) are stacks of red blood cells (RBCs) which form because of the unique discoid shape of the cells in vertebrates. The flat surface of the discoid RBCs give them a large surface area to make contact and stick to each other; thus, forming a rouleau. They occur when the plasma protein concentration is high, and because of them the erythrocyte sedimentation rate is also increased. This is a non-specific indicator of the presence of disease.
Conditions that cause rouleaux formation include infections, multiple myeloma, inflammatory and connective tissue disorders, and cancers. It also occurs in diabetes mellitus and is one of the causative factors for microvascular occlusion in diabetic retinopathy.
In 2009, I was testing claims made by distributors of a pulsed electromagnetic field (PEMF) mat. One of the claims made is that after a short, 8-minute exposure, live blood analysis shows much healthier looking blood cells. I tested their claim and noted that my blood was not very healthy looking at the start of the experiment with many of the cells stuck together. I then lay on the mat for 8 minutes and the blood cells were single and no longer clumping. The next day I repeated the testing and found that if I work on a computer or use a cordless phone my blood looks very unhealthy and forms stacks of red blood cells that resemble a stack of coins (rouleaux) (Figs. 6 & 7).
Figure 6. Live blood cells after 8 minutes of exposure to PEMF mat (MRS 2000); after working around the house that is electromagnetically clean; after using a computer for 70 minutes; after resting to 10 minutes away from the computer; and after using the PEMF mat again.
Figure 7. Live blood cells before and after using a cordless phone. Note the stacked red blood cells (rouleaux formation) in photograph on right.
Since the surface area of the red blood cells is where the exchange of gases and nutrients takes place, stacks of blood cells have a reduced surface area and are unable to function property resulting in oxygen and nutritional insufficiencies and an accumulation of waste products in cells and tissues. Common symptoms include numbness, tingling and/or cold extremities, chronic fatigue, and chronic pain. In severe cases rouleau formation could also contribute to blood clots, neuropathy, stroke or heart disease. Cardiologist Stephen Sinatra says that our blood should look like fine red wine and instead it resembles tomato catsup. This cannot be a healthy condition.
Case #5: Heart Rate Variability and Cordless Phone Base Station
Some people with electrosensitivity complain of heart problems including some combination of a rapid or irregular heartbeat, chest pain, shortness of breath and feelings of anxiety that appear quickly and for no obvious reason. Their symptoms resemble those of a heart attack, which leads to even greater anxiety.
Since the functioning of the human heart is relatively easy to monitor, we tested to see if the radiation from a base station of a cordless phone (cradle for the phone) could affect the heart in a double-blind, sham controlled experiment.11 We used the cradle for a cordless phone because, in North America, these cradles emit radio frequency radiation whether or not they are being used for a call. This radiation is constant and relatively powerful as the signal can reach the phone at distances of 100 meters or more.
We tested 25 volunteers in Colorado using Nerve Express heart rate variability and found that 40% (10 participants) responded to the radiation. Some developed tachycardia
