Maxwell's Silver Hammer 293
itself—or such consciously detectable stresses as heat, cold, or injury. It
includes a system of circulating antibodies by which specialized cells
recognize the intruder. The cells controlling this phase, which is called
humoral immunity, then select appropriate defenders from an array of
other types, each programmed for a certain function, such as digesting
bacteria, clearing away cellular debris, or neutralizing poisons. Elec-
tromagnetic energy isn't consciously perceived, however. It tricks the
immune system into fighting a shadow. Thus we can predict that, just
like a fire company answering a false alarm, the body will be less able to
fight a real fire.
Experiments bear out this supposition. Impaired immune response has
been found at many frequencies. Several groups of Soviet researchers
have found a decline in the efficiency of white blood cells in rats and
guinea pigs after the animals had been exposed to radio waves and mi-
crowaves. Most of these experimenters checked for immune system dis-
ruption only up to power densities of about 500 microwatts, one
twentieth of the nominal American safety standard. Multiple dangers
from higher levels are already considered proven in the Soviet Union.
As predicted, however, the most dramatic reported effect on immune
response has been produced by ELF fields. During his systematic study
of 200-gauss, 50-hertz magnetic fields, Yuri N. Udintsev found that the
concentration of bacteria needed to kill mice in such an environment was
only one fifth that needed without the field.
When considering resistance to illness, we must also account for the
effect of electromagnetic energy on the disease itself, a factor that has so
far been all but ignored. Virtually the only evidence to date is a disturb-
ing piece of work by Yu. N. Achkasova and her colleagues at the Cri-
mean Medical Institute in Simferopol. In 1978 they reported the results
of exposing thirteen standard strains of bacteria—including anthrax, ty-
phus, pneumonia, and staphylococcus—to electric and magnetic fields.
After accounting for magnetic storms, ionospheric flux, passage of the
interplanetary magnetic-field boundaries, and other variables, they found
clear evidence that an electric field only slightly stronger than earth's
background stimulated growth of all bacteria and increased their re-
sistance to antibiotics. The magnetic fields inhibited the growth of the
germs but in many cases still enhanced their resistance to antibiotics.
Achkasova concentrated on frequencies between 0.1 and 1 hertz, so the
survey was far from complete, but perhaps the most important finding
was
that
every
field tested had an effect,
even after one four-hour ex-
posure.
In many cases longer exposure produced permanent changes in
bacterial metabolism.