Do you know that your mobile phone can make you deaf? People using mobile phones for more than four years and longer than 30 minutes a day are at risk of developing hearing loss, particularly at higher speech frequencies, according to the results of a study conducted by the Post Graduate Institute of Medical Education  and Research here.

Dr Naresh Panda, Head of the Department of Otolaryngology (ENT) at PGIMER, headed the team which conducted the 18 month long study. He told reporters here on Thursday that the loss of hearing  would be more in the dominant ear (ear of use). He added that fullness in the ears, ear warmth and strange noises in the ear were warning signals that  should not be ignored.

The study, a preliminary one, was aimed at assessing  if long term mobile phone use had any adverse effect on hearing and central auditory pathways. It was carried out on 100 long term mobile phone users from Chandigarh.
Mr Panda explained that the study was conducted on people between the age group of 18-45 years and those who were using GSM handsets.

The study group was divided into three categories — those using mobile phones for 1-2 years, 2-3 years and 3-4 years and above.

When queried if PGIMER was suggesting that people should stop using mobile phones, Mr Panda replied that  team did not aim at spreading panic among the public.

He advised that people should limit or curtail their usage and also resort to other measures like use of ear phones.