Can Cell Phones Help Fight Alzheimer's?

Cell phone exposure may be helpful in the fight against
Alzheimer's disease, a new study shows.

The study, involving mice, provides evidence that long-term exposure to
electromagnetic waves associated with cell phone use may protect against, and
even reverse, Alzheimer's disease.

The study is published in the Journal of Alzheimer's Disease.

"It surprised us to find that cell phone exposure, begun in early adulthood,
protects the memory of mice otherwise destined to develop Alzheimer's
symptoms," study researcher Gary Arendash, PhD, of the University of South
Florida, says in a news release. "It was even more astonishing that the
electromagnetic waves generated by cell phones actually reversed memory
impairment in old Alzheimer's mice."

The researchers say they found that exposing old mice with Alzheimer's
disease to electromagnetic waves generated by cell phones reduced brain
deposits of beta-amyloid. Brain plaques formed by the abnormal accumulation of
beta-amyloid are hallmarks of Alzheimer's disease, which is why most treatments
try to target the protein.

The study allowed scientists to isolate the effects of cell phone exposure
on memory from other lifestyle factors, such as exercise and diet, the
researchers say.

The study involved 96 mice, including mice genetically engineered to develop
Alzheimer's disease and normal mice. Both the Alzheimer's mice and the normal
rodents were exposed to the electromagnetic field generated by standard cell
use for two one-hour periods daily for seven to nine months.

The mice didn't wear headsets, and no one held tiny phones to their ears.
Their cages, rather, were arranged around a centrally located antenna
generating the cell phone signal.

Each rodent was housed the same distance from the antenna and exposed to
electromagnetic waves, at a level typically emitted by a cell phone pressed
against a human head.

The researchers say that if cell phone exposure was begun when the
Alzheimer's mice were young adults, and before signs of memory loss became
apparent, their cognitive ability was protected. And if older mice with
Alzheimer's were exposed, their memory impairment improved. What's more, months
of cell phone exposure even boosted the memories of normal mice, the
researchers write.

The researchers say the memory benefits in normal mice of cell phone
exposure took months to show up, suggesting a similar effect in humans might
take years. However, they also caution that "care should be taken in
extrapolating our results to cell phone use and [electromagnetic wave] exposure
in humans."

New Ways to Fight Alzheimer's and Brain Injuries

The researchers conclude that the findings could mean electromagnetic field
exposure might be an effective, noninvasive, and drug-free way to prevent and
treat Alzheimer's disease in humans.

"If we can determine the best set of electromagnetic parameters to
effectively prevent beta-amyloid aggregation and remove pre-existing
beta-amyloid deposits from the brain, this technology could be quickly
translated to human benefit against AD [Alzheimer's disease]," says study
researcher Chuanhai Cao, PhD, also of the University of South Florida. "Since
production and aggregation of beta-amyloid occurs in traumatic brain injury,
particularly soldiers during war, the therapeutic impact of our findings may
extend beyond Alzheimer's disease."

Cao says the study "provides evidence that long-term cell phone use is not
harmful to [the] brain," Cao says. "To the contrary, the electromagnetic waves
emitted by cell phones could actually improve normal memory and be an effective
therapy against memory impairment."

They note that previous human studies of electromagnetic waves from cell
phones involved only brief exposures.

Although some people have claimed that cell phones may cause brain tumors,
the South Florida researchers say that "despite numerou studies, there is no
definitive evidence that high-frequency electromagnetic field exposure is a
risk to human health" and their study suggests the waves may be beneficial.

A study published in December 2009 in the Journal of the National Cancer
Institute found no substantial change in the incidence trend of brain
tumors among a study group of 60,000 people five to 10 years after cell phone
usage rose sharply in the countries where they lived.

By Bill Hendrick
Reviewed by Louise Chang
©2005-2008 WebMD, LLC. All rights reserved