Just half an hour of mobile phone calls a week raises risk of high blood pressure, scientists say
Just half an hour of mobile phone use per week increases the risk of high blood pressure, scientists say
- A team from China found that regular callers are most at risk hypertension
- They analyzed more than 200,000 British adults and looked at their phone use
We all enjoy catching up with family and friends over the phone.
But calls should be kept to a minimum to keep blood pressure down and our hearts healthy, experts warn.
That’s because new research shows that talking on a cell phone for just half an hour a week is linked to a greater risk of high blood pressure.
And regular callers, who spend an hour a day on the phone, were found to be at the highest risk of contracting the condition.
A team from Southern Medical University in Guangzhou, China, wanted to investigate whether there was a link between making and receiving calls and a new diagnosis of high blood pressure, also known as hypertension.
Phone calls should be kept to a minimum to keep blood pressure down and our hearts healthy, experts warn
They analyzed data from more than 200,000 adults in the UK and collected information about their mobile phone use through a questionnaire.
These included questions about how many years they had been using a cell phone, how many hours per week they spent on it, and whether they used a speakerphone or a hands-free device.
Over a 12-year follow-up, they found that participants who spent 30 minutes or more per week talking on their cell phones were 12 percent more likely to develop high blood pressure than those who spent less time on phone calls.
This equates to being on the phone for just four minutes and 17 seconds a day.
Looking at the findings in more detail, they found that people who spent more than six hours a week on the phone had a 25 percent increased risk of high blood pressure compared to those who spent less than five minutes making or receiving calls.
The number of years participants used a mobile phone, or if they used a hands-free device, did not appear to make a difference to risk level.
Professor Xianhui Qin, one of the authors of the study, said: ‘It is the number of minutes people talk on a mobile that is important for heart health, and more minutes means greater risk.
‘Our findings suggest that talking on a mobile phone does not affect the risk of developing high blood pressure, as long as the weekly call time remains below half an hour.
“More research is needed to replicate the results, but until then, it seems prudent to keep cell phone calls to a minimum to maintain heart health.”
It is estimated that just over a quarter of adults in the UK, about 14.4 million people, have high blood pressure.
The condition can damage arteries by making them less elastic, which reduces the flow of blood and oxygen and can lead to a heart attack or stroke.
The link between cell phone use and higher blood pressure could be related to low levels of radiofrequency energy emitted by the devices, the researchers said.
However, previous research on the same topic has had mixed results — possibly because they include calling, texting and gaming, she added.
In the European Heart Journal – Digital Health, the team wrote: ‘In recent years, mobile phones have become a device of everyday life all over the world.
“This raises important questions about the safety of using a mobile phone to make or receive calls, especially for heavy users.
‘Our research provides new insights. Using cell phones to make or receive calls was associated with a significantly higher risk of new onset hypertension, especially in those with longer weekly usage times.’