How Mobile Phones Could Provide a Breakthrough for Alzheimer’s

 

After years of hearing that mobile phones can cause brain tumours, an inventive new study suggests mobile phone radiation may actually have a beneficial biological effect—two hours of exposure a day staved off Alzheimer’s disease in mice.

 

Scientists at the University of South Florida studied mice that are genetically predisposed to develop Alzheimer’s and its accompanying memory problems. Based on previous research, the researchers hypothesized that radiation from phones would accelerate progression of the disease because other types of radiation cause free radical damage. The team used an antenna to expose some of the mice to electromagnetic waves that approximated two hours of daily cell phone use. To the scientists’ surprise, the mice that were dosed with mobile phone radiation did not suffer from memory impairments as they aged—unlike their radiation-free counterparts. The mice exposed to phone waves retained their youthful ability to navigate a once familiar maze after time spent in different mazes.

The researchers have a theory that the radiation prevented the buildup of amyloid plaques, the sticky protein aggregates that are found in Alzheimer’s brains. They suggest that their work may eventually lead to a treatment that can halt the disease process.

 

Studies in mice are at very early stages, of course: many avenues of treatment that seem promising in rodents fail to live up to their potential in humans. But the new research raises questions about the mobile phone industry’s claim that its products’ emissions are too weak to have any biological effects! Although the link to brain tumors remains inconclusive, the new work suggests mobile phones may indeed have an effect on our brains….

 
References:

 
G.W. Arendasha, J. Sanchez-Ramos, T. Morie, M. Mamcarz, X. Lin, M. Runfeldt, L. Wang, G. Zhangb, Vasyl Sava, J. Tang and C. Cao (2010). Electromagnetic Field Treatment Protects Against and Reverses Cognitive Impairment in Alzheimer’s Disease Mice. Journal of Alzheimer’s Disease 19(1), 191–210.