Heart (Cardiovascular) disease, currently the leading cause of death in the western world with over seven hundred thousand deaths in the U.S. alone annually, has an associated risk due to Electro magnetic field. In 1990, there were two million three hundred thousand (2.3 million) deaths due to cardiovascular diseases in India. Hypertension, commonly known as high blood pressure, affects a broad segment of the population, more than forty-three million people in the United States in a 1991 survey and far more than that in India. This condition where the blood pressure is chronically raised elevates the risk of heart attack or stroke more than any other disease. Hypertension can lead to heart failure, aneurysm or renal failure. Approximately eighty-one percent (81%) of the cardiovascular deaths in India (both stroke 57% and heart disease) are due to hypertension. The effects of EMFs on raising blood pressure, pulse rate and affecting other dynamics of cardiovascular function have been well documented but are very rarely considered to be a factor.

One of the first published papers detailing the relationship of electromagnetic radiation to health effects documents adverse blood pressure changes dates back to 1966., where the Russian researcher Asanova noticed  Dr. Antonio Sastre of the Midwest Research Institute observed that EMFs caused changes in heart rhythms (endogenous electrical impulses) that have been linked to increased risks of heart disease. His conclusions led him to forecast that utility workers, who naturally face higher EMF exposure occupationally, would have a higher rate of two types of cardiovascular disease. To proceed to the next step in the logical progression of his conclusion about heart disease, Sastre teamed up with one of the leading electromagnetic radiation researchers, Dr. David Savitz. Their epidemiological study corroborated Dr. Sastre's prediction that workers with high EMF exposure could show increased cardiovascular risk from arrhythmia and myocardial infarctions (heart attacks).

The effects of EMFs on raising blood pressure, pulse rate and affecting other dynamics of cardiovascular function have been well documented by many investigators. When considering the overall potential effects of EMR put for by Environmental Studies Professor Dr. Neil Cherry, “Electromagnetic fields and radiation damage DNA and enhance cell death rates and therefore they are a Ubiquitous Universal Genotoxic Carcinogen that enhances the rates of Cancer, Cardiac, Reproductive and Neurological disease and mortality in human populations. Therefore there is no safe threshold level. The only safe exposure level is zero, a position confirmed by dose-response trends in epidemiological studies,” one must consider the potential correlation to hypertension as well.

American engineer Dr. Karl Maret commented, “There appears to be some confirmation that EMFs can have a significant impact on metabolic systems including elevated blood glucose levels, elevations in lipid levels, increased neuro-regulatory disturbances, decreased testosterone levels in males and impacts on the CNS, cardiovascular, and immune systems.” A prominent Russian researcher, Professor Valentina Nikitina, author of, “Occupational and Population Health Risks of Radio Frequency Electromagnetic Fields,” states that EMFs can cause central nervous system, blood chemistry and cardiovascular system damage, with symptoms including angina, atherosclerosis, chest pain, digestive disorders, fatigue, headache, hypertension, insomnia, irritability, low blood pressure, sleep disturbances and many other cardiac and neurological pathologies.

In light of the potential relationship between cardiovascular disturbances, especially hypertension, and electromagnetic radiation, one must consider the possibility that if there was a therapeutic mechanism available to reduce the EMR effects on patients that there could may be a reduction in the pathological outcomes of heart disease and hypertension.