Can Mobile Phone Usage Affect Hypothalamus-Pituitary-Adrenal Axis Response?

Abstract

There are many academic studies on mobile phones' electromagnetic (EM) radiation effects on salivary glands with solid findings. These findings include anomalies such as increased superoxide dismutase enzyme activity, elevated cortisol levels in saliva, and other indicators of oxidative stress. There are other intracranial endocrine glands such as the hypothalamus, the pituitary, and the pineal glands, which are exposed to similar electromagnetic radiation. These glands control the body's 24-hour cycle of the biological processes and response to stress. But it is not possible to conduct clinical studies on these glands without invasive methods. And invasive methods cannot provide any reliable information, since these glands are too sensitive for any surgical intervention. Therefore, the authors introduce the salivary, hypothalamus, pituitary, and pineal glands with their intrinsic properties and positions into the IEEE phantom head specific absorption rate (SAR) model. Then, they run simulations in order to find electric field values, SAR, and thermal effects on the model by finite element method (FEM) on these glands. The simulations solve the vector Helmholtz equations for a frequency, and provide the electric field, bioheat, and SAR values. The results are compared with the results of studies where EM effects were observed on salivary glands. By taking advantage of the similarities between the hypothalamus, pituitary, pineal and salivary glands, and by reflecting the EM findings of academia on the salivary glands over the hypothalamus, pituitary, and pineal glands, the authors discuss whether there can be EM effects of mobile phone usage on human endocrine system and circadian rhythm through hypothalamus-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis and pineal gland.