DRAGONFLY KINGDOM NTERNATIONAL SERVICE AGENCY

Epub 2016 Apr 4.

Yoga and physical exercise - a review and comparison

Ramajayam Govindaraj 1, Sneha Karmani 1, Shivarama Varambally 1, B N Gangadhar 1

PMID: 27044898 DOI: 10.3109/09540261.2016.1160878

Abstract

Yoga is a multifaceted spiritual tool with enhanced health and well-being as one of its positive effects. The components of yoga which are very commonly applied for health benefits are asanas (physical postures), pranayama (regulated breathing) and meditation. In the context of asanas, yoga resembles more of a physical exercise, which may lead to the perception that yoga is another kind of physical exercise. This article aims at exploring the commonalities and differences between yoga and physical exercise in terms of concepts, possible mechanisms and effectiveness for health benefits. A narrative review is undertaken based on traditional and contemporary literature for yoga, along with scientific articles available on yoga and exercise including head-to-head comparative trials with healthy volunteers and patients with various disease conditions. Physical exercises and the physical components of yoga practices have several similarities, but also important differences. Evidence suggests that yoga interventions appear to be equal and/or superior to exercise in most outcome measures. Emphasis on breath regulation, mindfulness during practice, and importance given to maintenance of postures are some of the elements which differentiate yoga practices from physical exercises.

Keywords: Yoga; asana; mindfulness; physical exercise; pranayama

Indexed for National Library of Medicine by Dragonfly Kingdom Library

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/27044898/

Int J Yoga. 2017 Jan-Apr; 10(1): 9–15.

doi: 10.4103/0973-6131.186155

PMCID: PMC5225749

PMID: 28149062

Effects of yogic intervention on pain scores and quality of life in females with chronic pelvic pain

Rahul Saxena, Manish Gupta, Nilima Shankar, Sandhya Jain,1 and Arushi Saxena1

Abstract

Context:

Chronic pelvic pain (CPP) is a common condition of women of the reproductive age group. It has a negative impact on a woman's personal health and quality of life (QOL). Practicing yoga has shown numerous benefits in various chronic painful conditions.

Aim:

To study the effects of yogic intervention on pain scores and quality of life in females of reproductive age group with CPP, on conventional therapy.

Settings and Design:

It is a follow-up, randomized case-control study done in a tertiary care hospital.

Subjects and Methods:

Sixty female patients of CPP in the age group of 18–45 years were randomly divided into Group I (n = 30) and Group II (n = 30). Group I received only conventional therapy in the form of NSAIDS and Group II received yoga therapy in the form of asanas, pranayama, and relaxation along with the conventional therapy for 8 weeks. They were assessed twice (pre- and post-treatment) for pain scores through visual analog scale (VAS) score and QOL by the World Health Organization quality of life-BREF (WHOQOL-BREF) questionnaire.

Statistical Analysis Used:

Repeated measure ANOVA followed by Tukey's test. P < 0.05 was considered significant.

Results:

After 8 weeks of yogic intervention, Group II patients showed a significant decrease in intensity of pain seen by a decrease in VAS score (P < 0.001) and improvement in the quality of life with a significant increase (P < 0.001) in physical, psychological, social, and environmental domain scores of WHOQOL-BREF.

Conclusions:

The practice of yoga causes a reduction in the pain intensity and improves the quality of life in patients with chronic pelvic pain.

Key words: Chronic pelvic pain, pain scores, quality of life, World Health Organization quality of life-BREF, yoga

INTRODUCTION

Chronic pelvic pain (CPP) is defined as an “intermittent or constant pain in the lower abdomen or pelvis of a woman, of at least 6 months duration, not occurring exclusively with menstruation or intercourse and not associated with pregnancy.[1] It is a common condition of the reproductive age of group women, yet its pathophysiology remains poorly understood.[2] In South-East Asian countries, the prevalence of CPP varies from 5.2% in India, 8.89% in Pakistan to 43.2% in Thailand.[3] CPP has a negative impact on a woman's personal health and quality of life (QOL).[4,5]

Though the exact etiology is unknown but CPP may occur due to the involvement and the complex interactions between of gynecological, gastrointestinal, urinary, musculoskeletal, endocrine, and neurologic systems. It may also be influenced by psychological and sociocultural factors.[6] Common conditions that cause CPP are endometriosis, chronic pelvic inflammatory disease, adenomyosis, fibroids, adhesions, celiac disease, colitis, inflammatory bowel disease, fibromyalgia, degenerative disk disease, and chronic urinary tract infection.[7]

The common presentations of CPP are noncyclic lower abdominal pain seen in about 80% of women, congestive dysmenorrhea in 26%, and pelvic tenderness in 20% of cases.[8] Symptoms of depression, anxiety, low QOL, low productivity, decreased energy, sexual dysfunction, and relationship problems are also present in these patients of CPP.[9,10]

The treatment of CPP entails two aspects, one is the treatment of chronic pain, and the other is the treatment of the underlying cause. In most cases, an effective treatment can be achieved by using both approaches. The treatment can be medical or surgical but for those women in whom a definitive diagnosis cannot be reached (61% of women with CPP reported that the etiology was unknown), it requires a multidisciplinary approach, i.e., addressing dietary, social, environmental, and psychological factors in addition to standard medical therapy.[10,11]

Yoga is an effective, time-tested method for improving overall health and managing psychosomatic and chronic degenerative disorders.[12] Practicing yoga regularly has shown improvement in QOL and pain reduction in chronic low back pain.[13,14] Prevalence of musculoskeletal pain (neck pain and lower back pain) was found to be lower in dentists with regular yoga practice as compared to dentists practicing other physical activities or with no physical activity.[15] Yoga therapy has shown a reduction in severity and duration of pain in women with primary dysmenorrhea.[16] Literature survey however has shown a paucity of studies on the beneficial effects of yoga on pain and QOL in females with CPP.

We hypothesized that the use of yogic intervention used along with conventional therapy in CPP patients will help in improving visual analog scale (VAS) score and QOL as compared to conventional therapy alone. The primary objective of our study was to measure VAS score and World Health Organization QOL-BREF (WHOQOL-BREF) scores in CPP patients on conventional therapy and in CPP patients on both conventional + yoga therapy......... 

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5225749/

Indexed for National Library of Medicine by Dragonfly Kingdom Library 

Mycotoxins, fungus and 'electrohypersensitivity'

K Anttila 

PMID: 10985910 DOI: 10.1054/mehy.1999.1045

Abstract

'Electrohypersensitivity' is often explained as a psychological syndrome. Our modern environment contains a lot of different substances and some of them are toxic. Mycotoxins are types of toxins that are biologically very active and that affect living organisms. Mycotoxins and fungi capable of producing toxins have been detected in ventilation systems, water damage and in foodstuff. Many of those displaying symptoms caused by electromagnetic fields have fungus infections or have been living in fungus-contaminated environments for long periods. In animal studies mycotoxins have shown the same effects as those seen in the 'electrohypersensitivity' syndrome. Phototoxic reactions are well known in veterinary medicine and in medical science, so the question is whether the 'electrohypersensitivity' syndrome is caused by 'phototoxic' reactions?

Index for NIH PubMed by Dragonfly Kingdom Library

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/10985910/

Glob Adv Health Med. 2014 Mar; 3(2): 40–55.

Published online 2014 Mar 1. doi: 10.7453/gahmj.2014.008

PMCID: PMC4010966

PMID: 24808981

Life Rhythm as a Symphony of Oscillatory Patterns: Electromagnetic Energy and Sound Vibration Modulates Gene Expression for Biological Signaling and Healing

David Muehsam, PhDcorresponding author and Carlo Ventura, MD, PhD

INTRODUCTION—BIOLOGICAL RHYTHMS: MUSIC MEETING SCIENCE

All life exists within a sea of vibration, and rhythm is fundamental to all of life. Diurnal, seasonal, lunar, and solar cycles, and the resonant electromagnetic field (EMF) oscillations of our planet make up the symphony of rhythms in which life on Earth exists. As life evolved amidst these natural rhythms, they were integrated into many basic human biological responses, which coincide with diurnal and seasonal cycles1 and the many aspects of human and animal behavior and physiology that are correlated with the phases of the moon.2 From the basic activities of daily life to our relationship with the animals on Earth,3 human society is structured around the moon's rhythm, and deeply rooted monthly circadian rhythms govern human sleep patterns, persisting even in isolation from our conscious awareness of the lunar phase.4 Our lives contain a seeming infinity of rhythms, with vibrations at the atomic and molecular levels and within biochemical reaction rates. The physiological correlates of the rhythms of the breath, heartbeat, and brain have been extensively studied and shown to be intimately related to our emotions, thoughts, and psychospiritual state. For example, respiratory output is coupled to a complex interaction between the brainstem and higher centers connecting the limbic system and cortical structures, thus creating a basic link between breathing and the emotions.5 A substantial body of research has demonstrated the fundamental interconnectedness of mind and emotion, brain and heart rhythms,6 variations in circadian heart rhythms have been shown to correlate with psychiatric disorders,7 an emerging language for interpreting brainwave electroencephalogram (EEG) rhythms is now allowing a deeper understanding of the relationships between EEG rhythms, cognition and neuropsychiatric disease,8 and pulsa-tile dynamics in genetic circuits is essential for the temporal organization of cellular stress response, signaling, and development.9 The thread that connects these various studies is the impact of rhythm and the notion that rhythms can communicate bio-information that governs a wide variety of functions, including that of guiding living beings towards health and well-being.

Rhythm is the fundamental characteristic of music. In frequencies, timbres, and the passage of beats through time to form rhythms, music is an apt metaphor for this carrier of life-information. And the notion that music can touch the core of our being and is as old as human consciousness. Plato grappled with the powers of music in The Republic, stating that the various Greek modes convey specific qualities: “Then beauty of style and harmony and grace and good rhythm depend on simplicity—I mean the true simplicity of a rightly and nobly ordered mind and character.”10 And though Shakespeare has been famously quoted as referring to music as the “food of love,” he went much further, writing that music has the power to create: “Orpheus with his lute made trees, And the mountain tops that freeze, Bow themselves, when he did sing,” and the power to destroy life: “In sweet music is such art, Killing care and grief of heart, Fall asleep, or hearing, die.”11

Music has been shown to modulate several cardiac and neurological functions and to trigger measurable stress-reducing pathways,12 to modulate blood pressure, heart rate, respiration, EEG measurements, body temperature and galvanic skin response; alter immune and endocrine function; and ameliorate pain, anxiety, nausea, fatigue, and depression.13 Significant correspondence has been found between specific musical tones played to the skin through speakers and traditional Chinese descriptions musical tones associated with the acupuncture meridians.14 The notion that one “hears” sounds not only through the ears but rather through the whole body is echoed in the words of the Sufi musician, healer and mystic, Hazrat Inayat Khan:

A person does not hear sound only through the ears; he hears sound through every pore of his body. It permeates the entire being, and according to its particular influence either slows or quickens the rhythm of the blood circulation; it either wakens or soothes the nervous system. It arouses a person to greater passions or it calms him by bringing him peace. According to the sound and its influence a certain effect is produced. Sound becomes visible in the form of radiance. This shows that the same energy which goes into the form of sound before being visible is absorbed by the physical body. In that way the physical body recuperates and becomes charged with new magnetism.15

Here, Khan reinforces the notion of a deep relationship between music and neurobiology, indicating that further understanding of how music can modify nervous system activity could have implications for developing mind-body-spirit therapies that are effective not only as adjuncts, but as central treatment modalities in rehabilitation and therapy.16

Rhythms show up in many aspects of life. They affect the way we feel day by day or throughout the seasons. They affect our moods and attitudes deeply, even on a personal basis, so that some activities and personal disciplines “click” with us while others don't. Even the language we use to communicate with each other is able to deliver multiple, between-the-lines, meanings according to the fine tuning of the sound of voice. In our daily activities, we may sometimes find deep satisfaction while at other times we are simply engaged in a boring routine, perhaps without realizing that at one time our activities are in tune with our natural life rhythm, and at another time we may be forced to adapt to a different rhythm for reasons that may not be fully natural.

In this review, we will provide evidence that, from the cellular level to the whole organism, every signaling event is fashioned by rhythms—as vibratory patterns—and that synchronization of coupled oscillators and dynamical systems is a crucial issue in the orchestration of essential processes of life. We will show that changes in the rhythms and modes of interaction of subcellular oscillators can result in remarkable modulation of gene expression and cellular dynamics, playing an essential role in states of wellness and disease. Within this context, we will discuss the use of EMFs and sound energy as tools for restoring healthy cellular dynamics, reprogramming DNA structure, and eliciting self-healing mechanisms. We will highlight how EMFs and sound energies can “sing” with stem cells, and even with non-stem-adult somatic cells to reprogram cell gene expression and fate, activate natural repairing abilities, and counteract cellular aging processes, paving the way toward unprecedented strategies of regenerative medicine. Particular emphasis will be placed on the large body of evidence demonstrating that cytoskeletal structures are dynamic modulators of subcellular, cellular, and intercellular information that coordinate biological regulation across the atomic/molecular to organismic levels, giving rise to the notion of a field of dynamic bio-information or “biofield.” While molecular and gene expression rhythms affect the entire individual, it has been shown that the reverse also occurs. To this end, we will summarize how recent advances in neurobiology, psychosocial genomics, and research on yoga, meditation, and other mind-body disciplines have shown that emotional states, cognition, states of stress or relaxation and psychosocial factors can strongly affect genome function. This deep-seated bidirectional flow of information, branching between the atomic/molecular, organismic, and psychosocial levels, thus produces a dynamic, holistic biofield wherein our consciousness, emotional expression, and social behavior are intimately interwoven with our molecular and gene expression patterning.

BIOLOGICAL CLOCKS: SETTING LIFE'S RHYTHMS

The synchronization of multiple rhythms is an essential manifestation of living processes. While it is well known that biological clocks located in the central nervous system drive our circadian rhythms, there is now compelling evidence that the central nervous system also acts as a merging/integration point of biorhythms emerging from self-sustaining cellular and subcellular oscillators. For example, it has been shown that the regulation of metabolism and energy production of the entire organism across the daily cycles of fasting and feeding is orchestrated by subcellular transcriptional oscillations (clocks) controlling the basic dynamics of substrate biosyn-thesis and energy production (adenosine triphosphate, ATP) at the mitochondria.17

Another basic type of biological clock is made up of the mechanisms governing essential biological processes such as embryonic development, neuronal plasticity, cell memory, and differentiation of various types of stem cells. For these processes, calcium (Ca2+) ions act as important messengers, for which intracellular sequestration of Ca2+ by specific agents has been shown to modulate the above pathways. It is striking that experimental evidence indicates that transient changes in intracellular Ca2+ homeostasis, rather than occurring in a manner corresponding to diffusion and passive transport (ie, increasing from a baseline to a stable long-lasting plateau and then declining again), is orchestrated in real-time by subcellular pacemaker sites producing Ca2+ waves and oscillations.18 Accordingly, the rhythmic beating of stem cell–derived cardiac cells is governed by dynamic coupling of cellular electrophysiology and cytosolic Ca2+ oscillations.19 Thus, Nature chose to create subcellular clocks to guarantee an exquisite regulation of the Ca2+ dynamics essential for many processes.

Cellular oscillators also play a crucial role in orchestrating embryogenesis and the patterning of differentiation in stem cells, which relies on the timely proliferation of progenitor cells and their subsequent differentiation into the multiple lineages that form different parts of the embryo. Modulation and orchestration of the timing of cell differentiation and cell fate choice are key issues for making organs of the right size, shape, and cell composition. To this end, both during embryogenesis and throughout adult life, the composition of secreted proteins that determine the overall rhythmicity of multiple-cell networks has been shown to be dependent upon cell crowding.20 Starting from a single fertilized oocyte, up to the level of the entire organism, cell proliferation and differentiation are antagonistically regulated by multiple activator and repressor genes, whose activity is fashioned according to specific oscillatory patterns in gene transcription.21,22 There is compelling evidence that during embryonic development, during somite segmentation, for example, specific genes function as biological clocks, acting through both short and long lived oscillatory pathways often involving tonic feed-forward and feedback mechanisms.23–30 The biomedical implications of this are extremely important, as the impairment of these biological clocks leads to premature or aberrant stem cell differentiation, or depletion of certain stem cell pools, resulting in dysmorphic brain and heart structures incompatible with post-natal survival. 27,31–35

In general, aberrant cellular oscillatory patterning is associated with severe disease. For example, genetic defects in the assembly or rhythmic function of primary cilia, which are oscillatory sensory organelles, give rise to developmental defects and diseases in mammals. One of these genetic disorders, known as primary ciliary dyskinesia, most commonly arises from loss of molecular motors that power ciliary beating.36 The disease involves abnormal lung development and function, infertility, and in some cases a condition called situs inversus, in which the internal organs (for example, the heart, stomach, spleen, liver, and gall-bladder) are in opposite positions from where they would normally be located. In mice, embryos bearing a mutation associated with lack of primary cilia develop a severe cardiac disease, including ventricular dilation, decreased myocardial trabeculation, and an abnormal outflow tract.37 It is clear that impairment of the molecular mechanisms that govern the circadian clock at cellular level also play a central role in the so-called “metabolic syndrome” that represents a spectrum of disorders whose incidence continues to increase across the industrialized world. Comprised of several metabolic abnormalities, including central (intraabdominal) obesity, dyslipidemia, hyperglycemia, and hyper-tension,38 this syndrome has become a major public health challenge worldwide, with an estimated 25% to 40% of the population between 25 and 64 years of age affected. An essential distinctive trait of the syndrome is the disruption of the fine tuning of cellular oscillators that compose the “mammalian circadian clock.”38 This clock consists of a series of interlocking transcription/translation feedback loops, involving the synchronization of the availability of transcription factors that activate the expression of downstream clock target genes. Recent evidence also indicates that disruption of circadian rhythms may play a pivotal role in cognitive disorders associated with schizophrenia.39 In this disease, impairment may occur not only in the circadian master clock in the hypothalamic suprachiasmatic nuclei that is responsible for controlling circa-dian rhythms but also at the level of local semi-autonomous oscillators capable of generating self-sustained circadian oscillations in individual cells in a number of brain tissues, including the hippocampus, cerebral cortex, and cerebellum.39

Underlying all of the above reported findings one may see that the coupling of intrinsic oscillatory rhythms originating at the molecular and single cell level is intimately related to higher-level structure, function, and the generation of a wide range of biological rhythms. At the cellular and subcellular levels, oscillatory behaviors have been shown to emerge as a direct result of simple negative feedback loops and coupled positive and negative feedback loops,40 and rhythms arise from stochastic, nonlinear biological mechanisms interacting with a fluctuating environment41, indicating that oscillations are a natural outcome of a variety of essential cellular biochemical interactions. Another concept central to the study of biological rhythms is the existence of coupling between oscillators giving rise to collective behaviors such as phase synchronization.41 An extremely large body of research has examined the conditions under which periodic behaviors, stochastic resonance (coherent entrainment due to noisy signals), and chaotic behaviors can occur in dynamical systems and systems of coupled oscillators, and the results have been applied to nearly every level of biological function, from the subcellular to the organismic.41 For example, it has been clearly demonstrated that the generation of circa-dian rhythms at the suprachiasmatic nucleus is the result of the coupling of oscillators across the cellular and multicellular levels,42 and a general framework for the emergence of synchronization in circadian cooperative systems employs non-linear coupled oscillators, resulting in phase-synchrony across large numbers of cells,43 In neuronal networks, large scale simulations typically employ electrically phase-coupled systems that give rise to cooperative behaviors across large numbers of neurons.44 Systems of genetic oscillators governing the synchronization of cells mediated by intercellular communication exhibit synchronous behaviors in spite of intrinsic parameter fluctuations and the presence of extrinsic noise.45 Several novel behaviors have been noted, including phase synchronization within a system of weakly coupled self-sustained chaotic oscillators, suggesting that even under chaotic conditions, phases between individual oscillators can tend toward synchrony,45 and there has recently been interest in the existence of “chimera states” in networks of coupled oscillators wherein a wide spectrum of complex states emerge from the underlying dynamics of a system of weakly coupled oscillators containing both synchronous and asynchronous elements.46 Thus, the progression toward rhythmicity and complex behavior is a natural outcome of multi-part, dynamically interlinked systems.

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BIOLOGICAL EFFECTS OF ELECTROMAGNETIC FIELDS

All life exists in a sea of EMFs. In the modern world, we are constantly immersed in both natural and human-made fields, including the geomagnetic field, globally propagating waves in the earth-ionosphere cavity (Schumann resonances), the many EMFs produced by power transmission lines, microwave communication relays, and fields from a wide variety of commonly used devices, including mobile telephones and radiofrequency Wi-Fi stations. Because life on Earth evolved in the ambient geomagnetic environment, of particular interest to the question of possible coupling with natural geomagnetism are weak EMFs, ie, those with strength on the order of the Earth's 50 μT field. The existence of bioeffects for EMF signals of this strength has been firmly established, and the mechanisms by which constant and extremely low frequency (ELF) μT-range magnetic fields can directly influence biological processes have now been more clearly elucidated.47–50 In addition to a significant amount of literature on bioeffects due to geomagnetic-range field strengths,51 a growing body of evidence has shown that effects can also occur at much lower field strengths, on the order of nanoTesla, including effects on development in chick embryos,52,53 in vitro breast cancer cell proliferation,54 in vivo tumor growth,55–57 planarian fission and regeneration58,59; allergic encephalomyelitis in rats60; gravitropism of plants,61 MCF-7 breast cancer cell growth,62 and an Alzheimer's model in mice.63 A significant aspect of these extremely weak EMF bioeffects is that the energies of interaction are substantially lower than the average random thermal energy due to Brownian motion,48 suggesting the existence of a more subtle level of bioinformation transduction operating at extremely low energies.

RESONANCES OBSERVED FOR WEAK EMF BIOEFFECTS

Resonance produces enhanced effects when the frequency and/or amplitude of an applied EMF matches specific values for which cells or tissues have increased or decreased sensitivity. In recent years, it has been firmly established that amplitude and frequency resonances can occur for μT-range EMF exposures in a variety of in vitro and in vivo systems, such as brainwaves and neuronal calcium efflux,64 membrane transport,65 45Ca incorporation in human lymphocytes,66 calcium flux in bone cells,67 liposome permeability,68 calcium signal transduction in the lymphocytes,69 neurite outgrowth in PC-12 cells,70,71 myosin phosphorylation,72 calcium efflux though lipid vesicles,73 glutamic acid currents in aqueous solution,74–78 IGF-II expression for human osteosarcoma bone cells,79 survival curve for mice infected with Ascites Ehrlich carcinoma,80 and cytokine release from osteoblasts in response to different intensities of EMF stimulation.81 In addition, recent experiments have shown that specific combinations and temporal sequences of weak subthreshold EMFs can alter neurological activity.82–84 For these experiments, the EMF amplitudes and frequencies were below the thresholds required to evoke nerve firing, suggesting that the specific rhythms and patterning of weak EMFs are detectable by the nervous system at this more subtle sub-threshold level. The above evidence for weak EMF resonances has been supported by theoretical modeling, with the results of current models corresponding well with experimental data.49,50,68,85,86 Both theory and this experimental evidence show that resonances in this amplitude range often occur at frequencies at or near integral multiples of the Larmor and cyclotron frequencies,49,50,85,86 which lie in the 5 Hz to 50 Hz range for the most common biological ions in μT-range fields.50,86 Interestingly, the constant component of Earth's magnetic field averages approximately 50 μT worldwide, and the time varying components in the pT-nT range due to the Schumann resonances constitute the principal components of the natural background of the EMF spectrum in a similar frequency range from 6 Hz to 50 Hz.87 Because of the ambient-range amplitudes employed, the above results suggest the possibility of functional interactions between living creatures and Earth's magnetic field. In addition to the substantial literature on animal navigation via Earth's magnetic field,88 recent experiments report a functional role for the ambient geomagnetic field in a variety of biological processes. Bioeffects have been reported due to attenuation or shielding from the Earth's magnetic field, including modulation of neuronal spike frequencies,89,90 reduction in stress-induced analgesia,91,92 induction of amnesia in mice,93,94 inhibition of tumor cell growth,95 reduction in ability to survive ionizing radiation in drosophila,96 and an increase in pain threshold in humans.97

SOLAR-GEOMAGNETIC RHYTHMS AND LIFE ON EARTH....... https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4010966/

Indexed for Global Advances In Health and Medicine/ NIH PubMed by Dragonfly Kingdom Library 

Measuring effects of music, noise, and healing energy using a seed germination bioassay

 

By Beverly Rubik and Robert R. Brown 

Abstract

Background and Aim:

Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) public health policy has focused on the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) virus and its effects on human health while environmental factors have been largely ignored. In considering the epidemiological triad (agent-host-environment) applicable to all disease, we investigated a possible environmental factor in the COVID-19 pandemic: ambient radiofrequency radiation from wireless communication systems including microwaves and millimeter waves. SARS-CoV-2, the virus that caused the COVID-19 pandemic, surfaced in Wuhan, China shortly after the implementation of city-wide (fifth generation [5G] of wireless communications radiation [WCR]), and rapidly spread globally, initially demonstrating a statistical correlation to international communities with recently established 5G networks. In this study, we examined the peer-reviewed scientific literature on the detrimental bioeffects of WCR and identified several mechanisms by which WCR may have contributed to the COVID-19 pandemic as a toxic environmental cofactor. By crossing boundaries between the disciplines of biophysics and pathophysiology, we present evidence that WCR may: (1) cause morphologic changes in erythrocytes including echinocyte and rouleaux formation that can contribute to hypercoagulation; (2) impair microcirculation and reduce erythrocyte and hemoglobin levels exacerbating hypoxia; (3) amplify immune system dysfunction, including immunosuppression, autoimmunity, and hyperinflammation; (4) increase cellular oxidative stress and the production of free radicals resulting in vascular injury and organ damage; (5) increase intracellular Ca2+ essential for viral entry, replication, and release, in addition to promoting pro-inflammatory pathways; and (6) worsen heart arrhythmias and cardiac disorders.

Relevance for Patients:

In short, WCR has become a ubiquitous environmental stressor that we propose may have contributed to adverse health outcomes of patients infected with SARS-CoV-2 and increased the severity of the COVID-19 pandemic. Therefore, we recommend that all people, particularly those suffering from SARS-CoV-2 infection, reduce their exposure to WCR as much as reasonably achievable until further research better clarifies the systemic health effects associated with chronic WCR exposure.

Keywords: COVID-19, Coronavirus, coronavirus disease-19, severe acute respiratory syndrome, coronavirus 2, electromagnetic stress, electromagnetic fields, environmental factor, microwave, millimeter wave, pandemic, public health, radio frequency, radiofrequency, wireless........

Indexed for Journal of Clinical and Translational Research 

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8580522/