FAQ Episode 36: Electrosensitivity and Headaches

Frequently Asked Questions about Natural Migraine Relief

Not long ago I saw someone in my office whose headaches were clearly affected by electrical exposure, especially her cell phone and flourescent lights at work, and this encounter reminded me that I had been wanting to write this review for some time.

The question of whether or how electromagnetic radiation can affect health has been under discussion for several decades. It’s implied effect on health is called electrohypersensitivity syndrome, or EHS. This debate follows on the heels of a similar ongoing discussion about often similar clinical symptoms attributed to multiple chemical sensitivity syndrome. Both of these disorders have an equivocal acceptance by the general medical community. For example, the WHO does not recognize EHS as an illness that can be diagnosed and treated medically. This might be understandable, given that:

• the range of symptoms experienced in these situations is broad, with significant intra-individual variations

• the exact nature of the provocative causes and their downstream health effects are at best hard, to quantify and currently undefined. They are most likely underestimated as to their long term impact, as well.

• the symptom specificity for any given patient can be difficult to quantify clinically.

To give some contrast, some everyday examples from medical practice where testing helps to quantify the situation and to frame a more specific diagnosis and treatment would include:

• fever, white blood cell changes, lactate elevation, low blood pressure and a positive blood culture in sepsis

• an elevated tropinin level and an abnormal EKG in cardiac ischemia, or

• an elevated serum D-dimer and a positive doppler ultrasound in a case of deep vein thrombosis.

And even these classic examples from the ER are not always so simple to identify and manage, no matter what you saw on House, Chicago Med or Grey’s Anatomy. But in general, doctors prefer medical explainations where we can readily test to prove: cause → effect → diagnosis → treatment → cured! Unfortunately, not all health disorders yield to this simple formula.

Despite the difficulty in diagnosis, multiple studies confirm that electromagnetic fields do affect health, and to our specific concern, headaches, as well. In this discussion we will talk about potential causes of EHS, the range of symptoms, how this could relate to your headaches, and what you can do about it. A complilation of 17 studies from around the world estimated that electrohypersensitivity affects three to five percent of the population, varying on geographic location.¹

If you are one of these individuals, gaining awareness about a potential root cause of related problems like headaches could be invaluable. Remember, even if a problem is found in only one percent of people, if it is a real problem for you, it can be 100% true for you.

The Body Electric

Let’s start our discussion with the concept that at the quantum level each of us are a collection of electromagnetic forces. These underlie the structural format of atoms, each having its own electrical field. Collect and organize enough of these and you have organic molecules, which are the buiding blocks of life. When their electrical fields fit together right, you get your own unique DNA, where each strand vibrates in the ~2-4 gigahertz range. Your DNA goes on to transmit the code that assembles the 75,000+ enzymes needed for human life. From this soup comes tissues and then organs. Finally, when this magnificent and immensely complex assemblage is complete, life adds a deep breath breath, a spark of conciousness, and we get…you. Billions and billions have been made, yet no two humans are quite the same. Each of our 20,000+ gene codes, like those for a liver enzyme’s function, brain neurochemical production or the activation of B vitamins has a significant range of variation among individuals. Carefully inspect a hundred random and naked Homo sapiens and well, if that doesn’t convince you of the near endless potential for variety, nothing will!

So, its hardly surprising that for some people, exposure to enough of an adverse electrical field could produce a disturbed equilibrium within their ‘life force.’ Whether you chose from brain waves, the electrical waves producing a heart beat or the electrical pulses that course up and down the 45 miles of your nervous system, we have multiple overlapping electrical fields in our bodies that can in turn be overlapped and affected by the electrical fields around us.

Potential sources of EHS

EHS is defined as “a phenomenon where individuals experience adverse health effects while using or being in the vicinity of devices emanating electric, magnetic, or electromagnetic fields,” or EMFs. In our world, there are few spaces free from the influence of devices, especially those that operate in the 50-60 Hz range. Some common sourse of EMFs include:

-cellular phones, cell towers and Wi-Fi fields, including 5G

-computer or TV screens

-microwave ovens, refrigerators, hair dryers and other appliances

-electric blankets

-flourescent lights

-transformers or the high voltage power lines coming into your home (all too often located near the head of the bed in the master bedroom!)

Some people know symtomatically when they are near a high energy field. For others it is a lower grade but cumulative contribution to inflammation that can promote a problem like a headache or the other symptoms noted below. While they only give an approximation, an EMF meter can help to quantify the energy field around a potential problem source. Here’s what my EMF meter looks like:

This one currently runs ~$170 (was only ~$60 15 years ago. Inflation, ya know) but you can get a reliable meter online for ~$40-50. I would avoid the knock off $15 versions.

Symptoms associated with EHS

Although we have not found a direct causal relationship, it is interesting to note that women comprise two-thirds of those with either migraine headaches or electrohypersensitivity syndrome.

As might be expected, many symptoms associated with hypersensitivity to electrical field hypersensitivity are neurological. The range of symptoms experienced in EHS include (% of susceptible patients reporting the symptom):

• headache (88%)

• dysesthesia (pain, itchy, or burning sensations; 82%)

• deficits in attention or concentration (76%)

• ear heat or pain (70%)

• dizziness (70%)

• tinnitus (60%)

• fatigue (88%)

• immediate memory loss (70%)

• insomnia (74%)

• symptoms of depression (60%).

• skin lesions (45%), found mostly on the hands—“particularly on the hand which held the mobile phone” most often.

EHS patients report that these symptoms arise or increase with exposure to electromagnetic field sources.

The potential contribution of EHS to the root causes of migraines headaches.

It is postulated that much of the cellular injury from EMFs occurs from oxidative inflammation and reduced microvascular blood flow. Transcranial Doppler ultrasounds show a decrease in mean pulsatility index in the cerebral arteries of those with EHS, resulting in decreased blood flow velocity. Ultrasonic cerebral tomosphygmography (UCTS)  shows that people with EHS tend to have decreased capillary blood flow to the limbic system and the thalamus in the brain.

Here is a proposed mode of action from the article by Dr.s Belpomme and Irigaray, as referenced below.²

(BBB = blood brain barrier)

Belpomme and Irigaray³ also identified biomarkers that characterize EHS, including:

• increased histamine in 30-40%, consistent with low-grade inflammation.

• around 20% of the 727 patients with EHS had autoantibodies against O-myelin (the sheath around neurons) in the brain. 

• 80% of EHS patients had increased levels of one or more of the measured oxidative/nitrosative stress-related biomarkers: thiobarbituric acid reactive substances (TBARS), oxidized glutathione, and nitrotyrosine.

• patients with EHS also had abnormal neurotransmitter profiles.

• authors also reported that many EHS patients have “a profound deficit in vitamins and trace minerals, especially in vitamin D and zinc.

By adding transcranial doppler imaging to the biomarkers listed above, Belpomme and Irigaray were reportedly able to objectively diagnose EHS in about 90% of EHS self-reported patients. Unfortunately most of these tests are not routinely available to clinical practice.

Practical management of EHS to reduce its contribution of health problems

“The right diagnosis is half the cure” -William Osler

Most of us do not have access to the doppler or biological marker testing that might supplement positive findings on the symptom list or provide a definitive diagnosis for EHS. But if your story fits well enough to raise your supicions, consider the following measures:

• identify everyday sources of electromagnetic radiation. A cell phone held near the body, computer screens, hair dryers and flourescent bulbs are common offenders.

• use hands free or Bluetooth connections, or a speaker phone to keep the cell phone or power source away from the head. A tri-field meter can help to validate EMF sources and determine safe ranges. For instance, I found that I needed at least 20-24 inches from my computer screen to limit EMFs.

• check the bedroom near the head of the bed for major power sources entering the home. Move the bed to a different wall if required.

• the authors of the work cited below found that “many EHS patients have a profound deficit in vitamins and trace minerals, especially in vitamin D and zinc.” Since Vitamin D3 deficiency can have a profound impact on migraines, consider getting your level checked and supported with an adequate dose to give you a level that is in the “upper one-third of the normal range.”

• the referenced study also used Ginkgo biloba extract in EHS patients to restore brain pulsatility. You could start with the 60-120 mg/day range using a standardized 24% ginkgo glycoside extract. If you are currently on blood thinning medications, check with your prescribing physcian first.

• because 1) oxidized glutathione is a clear marker of the inflammatory process noted in EHS and 2) glutathione is probably one of the most important repair enzymes in the body, it may be helpful to augment glutathione levels by taking its precursor N-acetyl-cysteine, also known as NAC. Support with NAC 600 mg twice daily is safe, inexpensive and can assist the body in managing inflammatory insults.

• anti-histamine therapy may be helpful. I cover this in more detail in the Natural Migraine Relief’s Lessons 7 & 8 on Inflammation as a root cause factor in Migraine.

The article cited stated that in the authors’ experience, symptoms may decrease and even disappear with treatment and protection, but “hypersensitivity to EMFs never disappear” and that “EHS appears to be associated with some irreversible neurological pathological state, requiring strong and persistent prevention.” My opinion is that while sensitivity to EMFs for you may be an unfotunate collision between your genetic predispositions and your situational environment, understanding and minimizing how EMFs affect you may not only help your migraines, but also minimize many other subliminal but real health problems. If it also diminishes an overly intense connection between you and the quasi-artificial screen world of network news and social media, you may find that you’ve done yourself a real favor!

1. Belpomme D, Irigaray P. Electrohypersensitivity as a Newly Identified and Characterized Neurologic Pathological Disorder How to Diagnose, Treat, and Prevent It.  Int J Mol Sci. 2020;21:1915. https://www.mdpi.com/1422-0067/21/6/1915

2. ibid

3. ibid