Dear doctor;

While living in Uganda, the home was under a high voltage power line. There was never anything out of the ordinary but recently, I read an article that said living too close to such power lines is harmful to health. I grew up there and spent eight years in the same place. Could I have exposed myself to some dangers? If so, which ones?Ntare, 26.

Dear Ntare,

Some studies done previously did suggest that living in close proximity to high voltage power line carried risk of leukemia (a blood cancer where one type of blood cells become abnormally high causing recurrent or chronic sickness and death). But much research done subsequently has failed to find strong evidence for it. Even if there is risk of leukemia due to electromagnetic radiation, the evidence is weak, that is to say, risk is minimal. Hence, be carefree. Of course, there are many other known health hazards such as obesity, intake of alcohol or tobacco, among others, addictive substances. To keep a good health avoid these.