Mobile Phone Use 'May Reverse Alzheimer's'

Mobile phone use could protect against Alzheimer's and even reverse the disease, new research suggests.

Scientists cured mice with the disease by exposing them to the electromagnetic waves produced by the devices.

Sticky brain deposits of a harmful protein linked to the condition were erased and the animals' thinking ability and memory returned to normal levels.

For the experiment, scientists placed the animals in cages arranged around a centrally located antenna generating the phone signal.

If exposure began when the Alzheimer's-prone mice were young adults - prior to any signs of memory impairment - their mental abilities were protected.

The mice continued to perform as well on tests measuring memory and thinking skills as animals without dementia.

Older Alzheimer's mice already affected by the disease lost their memory impairment.

Translated to humans, the tests suggest that it would take years for constant use of mobile phones to have a similar effect.

But the US researchers believe exposure to mobile phone-type electromagnetic radiation could be an effective drug-free way to prevent and treat Alzheimer's.

Professor Gary Arendash, from the University of South Florida's Alzheimer's Disease Research Centre, led the study published in the Journal of Alzheimer's Disease.

He said: "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.

"It was even more astonishing that the electromagnetic waves generated by cell phones actually reversed memory impairment in old Alzheimer's mice."