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Author

Lena Hillert

Other affiliations: Stockholm County Council
Bio: Lena Hillert is an academic researcher from Karolinska Institutet. The author has contributed to research in topics: Mobile phone & Electromagnetic hypersensitivity. The author has an hindex of 20, co-authored 50 publications receiving 1723 citations. Previous affiliations of Lena Hillert include Stockholm County Council.


Papers
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Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: The previous opinion on "Possible effects of Electromagnetic Fields (EMF), Radio Frequency Fields (RF) and Microwave Radiation on human health" by the Scientific Committee on Toxicity, Ecotoxicity and the Environment from 2001 is updated.

314 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: The results suggest that there is widespread concern among the general population about risks to health posed by electric and magnetic fields, and characteristics of the group reporting such hypersensitivity with regard to demographics, other complaints, hypersensitivities, and traditional allergies are described.
Abstract: Objectives The prevalence of medically unexplained symptoms attributed to exposure to electromagnetic fields is still largely unknown. Previous studies have investigated reported hypersensitivity to electricity in selected groups recruited from workplaces or outpatient clinics. The aim of this study was to estimate the prevalence of self-reported hypersensitivity to electric or magnetic fields in the general population and to describe characteristics of the group reporting such hypersensitivity with regard to demographics, other complaints, hypersensitivities, and traditional allergies. Methods A cross-sectional questionnaire survey was conducted in 1997 among 15 000 men and women between 19 and 80 years of age in Stockholm County. The response rate was 73%. Results One and a half percent of the respondents reported hypersensitivity to electric or magnetic fields. Prevalence was highest among women and in the 60- to 69-year age group. The hypersensitive group reported all symptoms, allergies, and other types of hypersensitivities included in the survey (as well as being disturbed by various factors in the home) to a significantly greater extent than the rest of the respondents. No specific symptom profile set off the hypersensitive group from the rest of the respondents. Conclusions The results should be interpreted with caution. But they suggest that there is widespread concern among the general population about risks to health posed by electric and magnetic fields. More research is warranted to explore ill health among people reporting hypersensitivity to electric or magnetic fields.

173 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: Overall, there was a low correlation between the investigated actigraphy sleep parameters and subjective sleep quality, suggesting that the two methods of measurement capture different dimensions of sleep.
Abstract: Study Objectives:The aim of the study was to investigate how many nights of measurement are needed for a reliable measure of sleep in a working population including adult women and men.Methods:In a...

126 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: It is reported here that effects of MWs from mobile telephones on human lymphocytes are dependent on carrier frequency, and on average, the same response was observed in lymphocytes from hypersensitive and healthy subjects.
Abstract: The data on biologic effects of nonthermal microwaves (MWs) from mobile telephones are diverse, and these effects are presently ignored by safety standards of the International Commission for Non-Ionizing Radiation Protection (ICNIRP). In the present study, we investigated effects of MWs of Global System for Mobile Communication (GSM) at different carrier frequencies on human lymphocytes from healthy persons and from persons reporting hypersensitivity to electromagnetic fields (EMFs). We measured the changes in chromatin conformation, which are indicative of stress response and genotoxic effects, by the method of anomalous viscosity time dependence, and we analyzed tumor suppressor p53-binding protein 1 (53BP1) and phosphorylated histone H2AX (gamma-H2AX), which have been shown to colocalize in distinct foci with DNA double-strand breaks (DSBs), using immunofluorescence confocal laser microscopy. We found that MWs from GSM mobile telephones affect chromatin conformation and 53BP1/gamma-H2AX foci similar to heat shock. For the first time, we report here that effects of MWs from mobile telephones on human lymphocytes are dependent on carrier frequency. On average, the same response was observed in lymphocytes from hypersensitive and healthy subjects.

109 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: There is no reliable evidence to suggest that people with IEI-EMF experience unusual physiological reactions as a result of exposure to EMF, which supports suggestions that EMF is not the main cause of their ill health.
Abstract: Idiopathic environmental intolerance attributed to electromagnetic fields (IEI-EMF) is a controversial illness in which people report symptoms that they believe are triggered by exposure to EMF. Double-blind experiments have found no association between the presence of EMF and self-reported outcomes in people with IEI-EMF. No systematic review has assessed whether EMF exposure triggers physiological or cognitive changes in this group. Using a systematic literature search, we identified 29 single or double-blind experiments in which participants with IEI-EMF were exposed to different EMF levels and in which objectively measured outcomes were assessed. Five studies identified significant effects of exposure such as reduced heart rate and blood pressure, altered pupillary light reflex, reduced visual attention and perception, improved spatial memory, movement away from an EMF source during sleep and altered EEG during sleep. In most cases, these were isolated results that other studies failed to replicate. For the sleep EEG findings, the results reflected similar changes in the IEI-EMF participants and a non-IEI-EMF control group. At present, there is no reliable evidence to suggest that people with IEI-EMF experience unusual physiological reactions as a result of exposure to EMF. This supports suggestions that EMF is not the main cause of their ill health.

98 citations


Cited by
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01 Jan 2010
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors describe a scenario where a group of people are attempting to find a solution to the problem of "finding the needle in a haystack" in the environment.
Abstract: 中枢神経系疾患の治療は正常細胞(ニューロン)の機能維持を目的とするが,脳血管障害のように機能障害の原因が細胞の死滅に基づくことは多い.一方,脳腫瘍の治療においては薬物療法や放射線療法といった腫瘍細胞の死滅を目標とするものが大きな位置を占める.いずれの場合にも,細胞死の機序を理解することは各種病態や治療法の理解のうえで重要である.現在のところ最も研究の進んでいる細胞死の型はアポトーシスである.そのなかで重要な位置を占めるミトコンドリアにおける反応および抗アポトーシス因子について概要を紹介する.

2,716 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: The validity and reliability of Antonovsky’s life orientation questionnaire/sense of coherence scale (SOC) seems to be a reliable, valid, and cross culturally applicable instrument measuring how people manage stressful situations and stay well.
Abstract: Study objective: The aim of this paper is to systematically review and analyse the validity and reliability of Antonovsky’s life orientation questionnaire/sense of coherence scale (SOC). Design: The study is descriptive and analytical with a systematic integration of the contemporary knowledge base on the salutogenic research published 1992–2003. The review includes 458 scientific publications and 13 doctoral theses. Setting: Worldwide, based on postgraduate scientific publications in eight authorised databases, doctoral theses, and available books. Main results: The SOC questionnaire has been used in at least 33 languages in 32 countries with at least 15 different versions of the questionnaire. In 124 studies using SOC-29 the Cronbach’s α ranges from 0.70 to 0.95. The α values in 127 studies using SOC-13 range from 0.70 to 0.92, and in 60 studies using a modified SOC scale range from 0.35 to 0.91. Test-retest correlation show stability and range from 0.69 to 0.78 (1 year), 0.64 (3 years), 0.42 to 0.45 (4 years), 0.59 to 0.67 (5 years) to 0.54 (10 years). The means of SOC-29 range 100.50 (SD 28.50) to 164.50 (SD 17.10) points and SOC-13 from 35.39 (SD 0.10) to 77.60 (SD 13.80) points. After 10 years SOC seems to be comparatively stable, but not as stable as Antonovsky initially assumed. SOC tends to increase with age. The factorial structure of SOC seems rather to be multidimensional than unidimensional. SOC predicts a positive outcome in a long term perspective, although there are divergent findings reported. The SOC scale seems to be a reliable, valid, and cross culturally applicable instrument measuring how people manage stressful situations and stay well.

1,443 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors used histone H2AX phosphorylation on a serine four residues from the carboxyl terminus (producing gammaH2AX) as a sensitive marker for DNA double-strand breaks (DSBs).
Abstract: Histone H2AX phosphorylation on a serine four residues from the carboxyl terminus (producing gammaH2AX) is a sensitive marker for DNA double-strand breaks (DSBs). DSBs may lead to cancer but, paradoxically, are also used to kill cancer cells. Using gammaH2AX detection to determine the extent of DSB induction may help to detect precancerous cells, to stage cancers, to monitor the effectiveness of cancer therapies and to develop novel anticancer drugs.

1,349 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: This article aims to cover hazards relevant to humans, provides an introduction to some of the newly emerging literature on fate and behavior of NP in the environment, as well as describing their ecotoxicology in a variety of species.
Abstract: The rapid expansion of nanotechnology promises to have great benefits for society, yet there is increasing concern that human and environmental exposure to engineered nanomaterials may result in si...

906 citations