Abstract
As early as 1950's in Japan, it was shown that electrical potential differences appear in dry bone subjected to mechanical stress. Since this finding, there are many researches that the application of an externally applied voltage, in particular, of electromagnetic fields (EMF) might have an effect on bone development. Although there are many application of EMF in the therapeutic use from the middle of 1970's, the concern has been raised over the effects of the exposure to 50/60Hz EMF (ELF-EMF) on human health after the publication of Wertheimer in 1979. Since then, many research efforts began to investigate possible association between ELF-EMF exposure and human health risk. The topics focused on leukemia and brain tumor in children and adult, breast cancer in adult. Experimental areas have included nervous system, physiology, reproduction, immunology, endocrinology. behavior etc in human and animals. Although IARC concluded that ELF magnetic field is possibly carcinogenic to humans (Group 2B), it remains that there are other explanations for the observed association between the exposure to ELF magnetic field and childhood leukemia. This presentation will shortly discuss the biological and health effects of ELF-EMF exposures from the points of human and animal studies, along with the discussion on the therapeutic application of electromagnetic phenomena.
