Cell phones affect your brain: Swedish researchers

Swedish researchers have found that cell phone use triggers a specific biological effect in the brain.

However, the researchers at Sweden's Orebro University, who conducted the study, cannot decide if the above effect is good, bad, or indifferent.

Basically, they found an association between cell phone use and an increased amount of a protein called transthyretin in the blood.

Transthyretin is associated with the fluid that cushions the brain.

While an increase in transthyretin may not be any cause for concern, it does indicate that cell phone use does have some biological effect on the brain, said researcher Fredrik Soderqvist.

The study also found that children and teenagers who were heavy cell phone users were more likely to report health problems, including headaches and impaired concentration.

However, Soderqvist declined to draw a cause-and-effect relationship.

"The connection was strongest regarding headaches, asthmatic complaints and impaired concentration. But more research is needed to exclude the effects of other factors and sources of error, even though it is difficult to see how this connection could be fully explained by such factors," Live Science quoted him as saying.

The findings come in line with growing concerns over the effect of cell phone on general heath.

In fact, an upcoming World Health Organization (WHO) study has linked cell phones to brain tumours.