Tinnitus: Don’t Trust the Science, Trust the Science That Is Evolving

By Patricia Burke of Safe Tech International

Reports that the incidence of tinnitus is rising worldwide were featured in national and international news recently.

 As noted an article in the Spanish paper El Pais, written by Miguel Ángel Criado, ”About 14% (740 million) of the world’s adults have experienced hearing sounds in their ears or heads that did not come from an external source.”

“Carlotta M. Jarach, from the Istituto di Ricerche Farmacologiche Mario Negri in Milan, Italy, and colleagues conducted an umbrella review followed by a traditional systematic review to provide frequency estimates of tinnitus worldwide. A total of 113 eligible articles published between 1972 and 2021 were identified, and prevalence and incidence estimates from 83 and 12 articles were extracted, respectively” as reported by MedicalXpress.

As is often the practice, the research made comparisons based on categories of age and sex. “The study found that tinnitus is more common as people get older, and that neither sex is more predisposed to having it.”  

One implication of the research is that because the population is aging, and tinnitus rates increase with age, that tinnitus will be an increasing social issue. “This study suggests that the global burden of tinnitus is large, similar to migraine and pain, and the lack of effective treatment options justifies a major investment in research in this area,” researchers wrote.”

“The condition can either be temporary or chronic [ ]. It’s not a disease in itself but is a symptom of other underlying health conditions, according to the association.

It appears that the phenomenon of microwave hearing has not been considered separately from tinnitus that does not come from an external source. Informed members of the community who are aware of the possible confusion have contacted reporters about the question of microwave hearing sourced from an external exposure vs. tinnitus, including Sean Carney of Safe Tech International, Michele Hertz of NYSUMA, and Marilynne Martin.

In addition to reports that “one author disclosed financial ties to the pharmaceutical and medical device industries” there are three issues regarding the recent tinnitus research that deserve further scrutiny.

Excluding Children

MedicalXpress reported, “Carlotta M. Jarach, from the Istituto di Ricerche Farmacologiche Mario Negri in Milan, Italy, and colleagues conducted an umbrella review followed by a traditional systematic review to provide frequency estimates of tinnitus worldwide. A total of 113 eligible articles published between 1972 and 2021 were identified, and prevalence and incidence estimates from 83 and 12 articles were extracted, respectively.”

The Spanish paper El Pais reported, “The studies of tinnitus in children that we analyzed mostly asked general questions about hearing a whistling or ringing sound,” said Gallus. “We believe this type of general question leads to overestimation because many children will answer yes, even if they do not have tinnitus.” “If the 13.6% number is to be believed, then 325 million more people suffering from tinnitus would have to be added to the global total. But the authors of this study insist that the data for children is not credible.”

If the research regarding the incidence of tinnitus in children is deemed not credible and excluded, it becomes easier to attribute increasing incidence with aging.

The questions of whether or not the incidences of microwave hearing (sourced from the environment) vs. tinnitus (no external sound source) are increasing in children remains unanswered.

This is especially concerning because ICNIPR radio frequency exposure guidelines are not designed to protect against microwave hearing.

As noted by Marilynne Martin, in 2017. ICNIRP ‘expert’ Zenon Sienkiewicz, stated, “We now actually feel that having a hissing or popping sound actually does require very very quiet conditions to hear it and is clearly a very localized thermal effect. As far as we can tell it is the fields are absorbed by tissues close to or in the inner ear and it sets up a pressure wave which is interpreted by the brain as actually being a sound. So again you hear this hissing clicking popping noise. But what we don’t consider is its harmful. So we are not going to have any specific restrictions based upon the avoidance of that noise.”  

The tinnitus research does not address the possibility that microwave hearing may be the source of the noise reported by study participants, in all age groups.  

Excluding Regional Differences

The article in the Spanish paper El Pais also noted,

“However, there is an intriguing regional disparity in the prevalence of the condition, about which much remains a mystery.”

The study created a map to provide a visual aid for the prevalence of tinnitus around the world. Asia, Oceania, North America and Europe all have similar percentages: 13-16%. Latin America has the highest prevalence with 21.9%, and Africa has the lowest, with 5.2%. These outliers are not easy to explain due to the very low availability of research and data for these regions. However, it’s clear that ringing in the ears does not discriminate among social classes. Using gross domestic product per capita data, the study found that the rich and the poor suffer equally from tinnitus.”

Another explanation for “outliers” is that there is an environmental variable involved.

Treating “Tinnitus” as One of a Cluster of Unrelated Symptoms

A recent study “A randomized single-blind controlled trial of a prototype digital polytherapeutic for tinnitus” was performed at The University of Auckland, Auckland, New Zealand.

The referenced introduction to the study provides an overview of current observations regarding tinnitus:

“This false perception of sound can be annoying and can result in, or exacerbate, sleep, concentration, anxiety/depression, and hearing problems.”

”Understanding of tinnitus pathophysiology continues to evolve but in general terms, tinnitus can result from disordered or reorganized activity within and across several neural networks due to peripheral auditory deafferentation or head injury.”

 “Tinnitus has unusual perceptual features; it is an unreal or phantom perception which may explain its salience and why distress networks are recruited.”

Microwave Hearing and Electrosensitivity

Rather than assuming that “This false perception of sound can be annoying and can result in, or exacerbate, sleep, concentration, anxiety/depression, and hearing problems” it is possible that one underlying stressor may be responsible for all of these symptoms.

The claim that “tinnitus can result from disordered or reorganized activity within and across several neural networks due to peripheral auditory deafferentation or head injury” and that “it is an unreal or phantom perception which may explain its salience and why distress networks are recruited” may prove to be inaccurate if microwave exposures are considered.  

As reported by Electromagnetic Health in 2014,

“Dr. Dominique Belpomme, President of the Association for Research on Treatment Against Cancer (ARTAC), as well as Founder of the European Cancer and Environment Research Institute (ECERI) in a Radio-Canada interview (in French) has stated “Electrosensitivy is a Pre-Alzeheimer’s state”.

English Summary of Radio Interview by Mieux Prevenir in Geneva, Switzerland

Dr. Belpomme has questioned and clinically examined more than 1,000 electrohypersensitivity (EHS) self-reported persons. He says, “These are real sick people who are in a Pre-Alzheimer’s state.” He says the most conclusive scientific proof of biological effect are animal studies and biological tests in EHS persons which indicate a Pre-Alzheimer’s state.

The lab tests that show the irregularities (also found in animals exposed to EMF), he says, include:

1. Brain imagery showing vascular hypoperfusion in the area of the brain (the limbic system) where Alzheimer’s starts
2. 2-10 times higher levels of histamine in the blood.
3. Detection of other markers of the opening of the blood brain barrier.
4. Higher levels of auto-antibodies against O- myelin and/or stress proteins
5. Decrease in the production of melatonin in 24h urine

Reports of ‘tinnitus’ often accompanies these descriptions of electromagnetic hypersensitivity, but phantom sound is not an accurate characterization. The symptom should be properly diagnosed as microwave hearing. From this perspective, microwave hearing is a warning sign of additional concerns.

Quotes from the Canadian radio interview with Dr. Belpomme, translated:

“High level independent scientists all agree that there is a major risk from propagation of wireless technology: appearance of certain cancers (EMF are recognized as “potentially carcinogenic” by WHO) and the risk of Alzheimer’s in electrosensitive persons.”

“Do we continue this technology for purely economic reasons or do we take into account the very high health costs that we will be paying as a result?”

 Alzheimer’s and Electrosensitivity and Microwaves

In 2015, Bournemouth University (U.K) researchers Colin Pritchard and Emily Rosenorn-Lanng published their study, ”Neurological deaths of American adults (55–74) and the over 75’s by sex compared with 20 Western countries 1989–2010: Cause for concern.”

The researchers compared mortality rates for three categories; neurological, cancer, and circulatory disease. The researchers were studying whether neurological death rates were increasing, using the other disease categories as controls and, if so, if this was attributing to longer life expectancy.

The authors noted the growing social and economic burden of earlier-onset neurological disorders on patients, families, front line services, and society. They showed that deaths due to neurological diseases like Alzheimer’s and dementia were, in fact, rising in the twenty-one Western countries, with especially alarming increases for women in the United States. The Washington Post reported, ”The study [ ] found that the disease is now being regularly diagnosed in people in their late 40s and that death rates are soaring. [ ] The problem was particularly acute in the United States, where neurological deaths in men aged over 75 have nearly tripled and in women risen more than fivefold.

As the researchers explained, if increased mortality from neurological illness was caused by the fact the individuals were living longer, “it would be expected that there would be little difference in the patterns of neurological, cancer, and circulatory deaths over the period under review.”

The U.K. neurological epidemiology researchers published a follow up study in 2019.

Microwave hearing is a very distinct condition, separate from tinnitus. It may also be an indicator of much greater damage, now extending to children.

The Auckland tinnitus research paper concluded, “A goal of future iterations of the therapeutic is to further empower the individual with a sense of greater control over their tinnitus.”

Would a greater sense of control be achieved by giving individuals the right and the ability to reduce their exposures to man-made, artificial microwave radiation?

See more on this topic: Tinnitus and Microwave Hearing – Have You Heard? – Safe Tech International; Tinnitus Revisited: When ‘Safety’ Testing is Unreal! – Safe Tech International; A Smokin’ Hot Story About Tinnitus Incidence and Treatments – Safe Tech International