The electromagnetic waves emitted from mobile phones could have an effect on the brain significant enough to reduce the impact of Alzheimer’s disease, a new study has found.
Researchers at the University of South Florida have created an experiment in which 96 mice, the majority of which had been genetically altered to experience the effects of Alzheimer’s, were exposed to the electromagnetic waves generated by handsets.
The mice were given doses twice a day for an hour each time, over seven to nine months. In the older mice, long-term exposure caused some protein fragments which cause Alzheimer’s effects to be neutralised.
“Frankly, I started this work a few years ago with a hypothesis that the electromagnetic fields from a mobile phone would be deleterious to Alzheimer’s mice,” researcher Gary Arendash told AFP.
“When we got our initial results showing a beneficial effect, I thought, ‘Give it a few more months and it will get bad for them’. It never got bad. We just kept getting these beneficial effects in both the Alzheimer’s and normal mice.”
James was the editor and publisher of SmartCompany and LeadingCompany for five years. He is now the Australian Financial Review‘s companies & markets editor, and a former BRW editor.
