And I confess to thee, O Lord, that I am still

ignorant as to what time is. And again I confess to thee, O Lord, that I know that I am speaking all these things in time, and that I have already spoken of time a long time, and that “very long” is not long except when measured by the duration of time. How, then, do I know this, when I do not know what time is? Or, is it possible that I do not know how I can express what I do know? Alas for Inhibitors,research,lifescience,medical me! I do not even know the extent of my own ignorance. Saint Augustine35

We are continuously exposed in our environment to electromagnetic fields (EMF) which are either of natural origin (geomagnetic field, intense solar activity, thunderstorms) or manmade (factories, transmission lines, electric appliances at work and home), magnetic resonance imaging, medical treatment, Inhibitors,research,lifescience,medical etc. Electric and magnetic fields which exist wherever electricity is generated, transmitted,

or distributed correspond to three frequency ranges: the extremely low frequency (ELF) range includes the frequencies (50 Hz in Europe, 60 Hz in North America) of the electric Inhibitors,research,lifescience,medical power P505-15 nmr supply and of electric and magnetic fields (EMF) generated by electricity power lines and electric/electronic appliances; intermediate frequency (IF, 300 Hz to <10 MHz) is used in computer monitors, industrial processes, and security systems; and finally, radiofrequency range (RF, 10 MHz to 300 GHz) includes radars, and radio and television broadcasts and telecommunications. Biological effects of ELF-EMF and their consequences on human health have become the subject Inhibitors,research,lifescience,medical of important and recurrent public Inhibitors,research,lifescience,medical debate. The growth of electric power use in industrialized countries and the parallel increase of environmental exposure to ELF-EMF resulted in a widespread

concern that ELF-EMF may have harmful effects in humans, a concern stimulated in the past decades by a number of epidemiologic studies reporting deleterious effects of ELF-EMF on human health. Wertheimer and Leeper1,2 published the first report, conducted in the Denver area, on the association between childhood cancer and exposure to ELF-EMF, with the conclusion of a higher risk of childhood leukemia at higher residential ELF-EMF exposure. Savitz et al3 many gave support to this assertion with the publication of similar results in the same area (Denver). From then, several epidemiologic papers have reported a possible link, without any experimental evidence, however, between exposure of humans to ELF-EMF and diseases such as leukemia and other cancers,4-6 depression, and suicide,7 and neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer’s disease and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis.