“It’s the number of minutes people spend talking on a mobile that matter for heart health, with more minutes meaning greater risk,” said study author Xianhui Qin of Southern Medical University, Guangzhou, China
Researchers have found talking on a mobile phone for 30 minutes or longer per week to be linked with a 12 per cent increased risk of developing high blood pressure or hypertension. Almost three-quarters of the global population aged 10 and over own a mobile phone.
Mobile phones emit low levels of radiofrequency energy, which has been linked with rises in blood pressure after short-term exposure, the study said.
Hypertension is a major risk factor for heart attack and stroke and a leading cause of premature death globally.
“It’s the number of minutes people spend talking on a mobile that matter for heart health, with more minutes meaning greater risk,” said study author Xianhui Qin of Southern Medical University, Guangzhou, China.
“Years of use or employing a hands-free set-up had no influence on the likelihood of developing high blood pressure. More studies are needed to confirm the findings,” said Qin.
The study is published in the European Heart Journal – Digital Health.
Using data from the UK Biobank to examine the relationship between talking over phone calls and new-onset hypertension, a total of 212,046 adults aged 37 to 73 years without hypertension were engaged in this study.
Information on the use of a mobile phone to make and receive calls was collected through a self-reported touchscreen questionnaire at baseline, including years of use, hours per week, and using a hands-free device/speakerphone.
Over a median follow up of 12 years, 13,984 (7 per cent) participants developed hypertension. Mobile phone users, who for the purposes of this study used a mobile phone at least once a week for making and taking phone calls, were found to have a 7 per cent higher risk of hypertension compared with non-users.
Those who talked on their mobile for 30 minutes or more per week had a 12 per cent greater likelihood of new-onset high blood pressure than participants who spent less than 30 minutes on phone calls. The results were similar for women and men.
PTI