Biological Effects of Electromagnetic Waves

Electromagnetic (EM) energy has been used for heating deep tissues since the early 1900’s. Diathermy using shortwaves or microwaves has been shown to increase extensibility of collagen tissues, to decrease joint stiffness, to relieve pain, and to reduce muscle spasms and, therefore, is widely used in physical therapy (Lehmann 1982). Recently diathermy or hyperthermia has been used as part of cancer therapy (Storm 1983). While therapeutic effects on patients have been reported, there are up to 7000 papers and abstracts now on the subject of biological effects of electromagnetic waves. Massive information contains both positive and negative effects and many of them are very controversial. It is impossible to provide a complete review of the literature on the biological effects of electromagnetic waves in this paper. For interested readers, a few books, book chapters, and special journal issues, are recommended (Gordon 1970, Presman 1970, Marha et al. 1971, Tyler 1975, Baranski and Czerski 1976, Gandhi 1980, Michaelson 1982, Cleary 1983, Adair 1983, Osepchuk 1983, Toler 1984, Radio Science Vol.12 No.6(S), Vol.14 No.6(S), Vol.17 No.5(S), Bioelectromagnetics, Journal of Microwave Power).

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