ES and EMS provocation test failures– Michael Bevington

ES and EMS provocation test failures – Michael Bevington – /Courtesy of ES-UK.

James Rubin, Rosa Nieto-Hernandez and Simon Wessely, of the Institute of Psychiatry at King’s College, London, wrote a review article for Bioelectromagnetics (2010) called “Idiopathic environmental intolerance attributed to electromagnetic fields (formerly 'electromagnetic hypersensitivity'): An updated systematic review of provocation studies.”

This reviewed 46 conscious psychological provocation studies with 1175 volunteers claiming EHS. Its abstract included:
“Idiopathic Environmental Intolerance attributed to electromagnetic fields (IEI-EMF; formerly 'electromagetic hypersensitivity') is a medically unexplained illness in which subjective symptoms are reported following exposure to electrical devices … No robust evidence could be found to support this theory. However, the studies included in the review did support the role of the nocebo effect in triggering acute symptoms in IEI-EMF sufferers. … A narrow focus by clinicians or policy makers on bioelectromagnetic mechanisms is therefore, unlikely to help IEI-EMF patients in the long-term.”

People who suffer ES symptoms from electrical devices will understandably be puzzled or even angered by this Review. Its conclusions do not match their experiences and they may think “Garbage in, garbage out”, or that this research is designed to ensure that the government keeps its tax revenue from mobiles, even though scientists are now arguing that the cancers and other illnesses which they cause could cost health services as much or more. The following comments aim to show why many such studies are flawed and have failed to produce anything except an anxiety about phantom or ‘nocebo’ effects.

Click here to read Michael Bevington's rebuttal of these studies.

Please note that Michael Bevington has written a 45 page booklet entitled: 'ES and EHS - A Summary', which is available from mid April for £10 including postage and packing to UK destinations.
The book is also available as a pdf on-line for a donation of £5. You can make payment via the ES-UK website (internet donation button) but will need to agree not to circulate this file to others and will need to email ES-UK the address/email address to which the book should be sent.

This book is an ideal way to present a well ordered summary of every scientific paper written about ES to friends, family, employers, doctors and medical practitioners, MPs, colleagues and neighbours. It also includes a detailed list of symptoms, existing diagnosis and treatment protocols, historic developments, etc.

If you would like to reserve a copy please send a cheque or money order for £10 payable to ES-UK to: Book, BM Box ES-UK, London WC1N 3XX, UK