Electromagnetic Hypersensitivity: The Wi-Fi Allergy

I'll cherry pick choice quotes from this Carte Blanche Electromagnetic Hypersensitivity - The Wi-Fi Allergy public disservice and try not to go into full angry nerd rant mode.

The electromagnetic spectrum in all its glory. I don't think it's drawn to scale because those butterflies would be terrifying.

Appeal To Authority Much?

Electromagnetic Hypersensitivity – a condition many of us have probably never even heard of. But according to various medical experts, EHS is a real medical problem and it’s becoming more common across the globe.

Which medical experts? They should go and edit the Wikipedia page on Electromagnetic Hypersensitivity:

The majority of provocation trials to date have found that such claimants are unable to distinguish between exposure and non-exposure to electromagnetic fields. A systematic review in 2005 showed no convincing scientific evidence for symptoms being caused by electromagnetic fields. Since then, several double-blind experiments have shown that people who report electromagnetic hypersensitivity are unable to detect the presence of electromagnetic fields and are as likely to report ill health following a sham exposure as they are following exposure to genuine electromagnetic fields, suggesting the cause in these cases to be the nocebo effect.

If you don't know that you're being subjected to electromagnetic radiation, and you suddenly are, and you can't tell that you're being subjected to more electromagnetic radiation than usual from a more powerful source than usual close by than say cherry red cherries, then you cannot be suffering from a hypersensitivity to electromagnetism. I do agree that something may be wrong with you, but whatever it is cannot be caused by electromagnetic radiation.

That's right, pick those cherries. If you can withstand their electromagnetic radiation.

Medical Condition?

In simple terms, EHS is a medical condition in which a person is essentially allergic to Wi-Fi. In fact, it is often referred to as Wi-Fi Allergy.

Symptoms vary from person to person and as such there is no diagnosis that can verify that someone is in fact allergic to Wi-Fi. Medical conditions are typically associated with specific symptoms and signs. However, disorders are also lumped together with medical conditions, and if EHS is viewed as a psychosomatic or psychological disorder, then I guess it counts as a medical condition.

A Small Percentage Could Amount to a Massive Prevalence Rate

Research into EHS is still relatively new, with worldwide prevalence rates ranging from anything between 1,2% to 13,3% of the population.

A range of 1,2% to 13,3% of the population suggests an average of 7,25% of the population. That's around 7 250 per 100 000, which is a massive epidemic. By the way, please do verify my back of the envelope arithmetic. I'm not drunk enough to maths yet.

By comparison, Zimbabwe had a population of around 13 million in 2009. In the midst of a cholera outbreak, a total of around 4 300 people died tragically in Zimbabwe because of government failure leading to clean water being unavailable. This is not the total of people who suffered from the disease, but this is around 33 cases per 100 000. I am using this formula on how to calculate prevalence rates per 1000 but using 100 000 instead.

Therefore, that average suggests that EHS is more than two hundred times as prevalent as the total amount of people who died in Zimbabwe in the midst of a cholera epidemic. Colour me sceptical.

But that's cholera deaths. Let's compare apples with apples instead of apples with cherries. During the largest ever recorded outbreak of cholera in Zimbabwe, a total of 98 596 cases of cholera were reported. Using the formula above again, I get around 758 cases per 100 000. Carte Blanche would thus have us believe that EHS is on the rise and is currently already a problem roughly ten times as prevalent as the largest cholera epidemic in Zimbabwe ever!

World Homoeopathy Organisation (WHO)

Meanwhile, a total of 230 scientists from across the world have signed an appeal requesting the World Health Organisation (WHO) to take the matter of EHS more seriously. This includes improved regulation of the use of wireless radiation technology.

And unfortunately, the WHO has listened to these lunatics. Electomagnetic fields and public health is from 2005 so perhaps the WHO already decided that this is a public health issue before the systematic reviews showed their only public health to be concerned about here is mental health.

Further Reading

• Everybody's favourite environmentalist, Ivo Vegter, wrote a piece on how these nuts are a few brandies short of a fruitcake. Read The Campaign against Killer Radio Waves at your leisure.
• Please read about the electromagnetic spectrum and never ever refer to putting something in the microwave as nuking it ever again, kthnxbi.