GADGET UPDATE: Cell phone radiation might benefit us biologically.
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After spending years fighting claims that cell phone use can cause brain tumors, industry reps may be getting some welcome news. A new study suggests cell 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 cell 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 hypothesize 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 preliminary, of course: many avenues of treatment that seem promising in rodents fail to pan out in humans. But the new paper raises questions about the cell 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 cell phones may indeed be messing with our minds.
This article was originally published with the title Could Cell Phone Radiation Protect Memory?.
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19 Comments
Add CommentHotsprings in Japan are known to emit weak levels of radiation insufficient to harm humans but are potent enough to penetrate several layers of cells thereby stimulating the auto-immune system to repair cells that are nearing the end of their life time in hopes of restoring the body to its utmost health.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisAndrea Akutagawa
http://liberate.it/
of course, there is documentation of this including controlled clinical studies demonstrating this unusual effect?
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisGreat news! Got Alzheimer's? There's an app for that!
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisMore seriously though, very interesting news curious how this develops. Beyond cell phones- can we isolate key frequencies that help and develop thereaputic machines to help those at most risk?
If... this data is backed up by other studies!
Unless I'm wrong I thought that cell phones worked in the microwave wavelengths. Wouldn't there be significant absorption of the radiation in the first mm or so of the scalp? Therefore, how can this be more dangerous than a microwave oven?
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisGreat - my kids will now be able to remember where they left their cell phone.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisAAkutagawa - I suspect the radiation of volcanic hotsprings is produces by nuclear decay, whereas cellphones mostly emit microwave electromagnetic energy. Not to dispute their benefits, but hotsprings often smell like rotten eggs due to the presence of sulfur...
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisdbtinc - I think the oven has several pounds of EM shielding. Applying that to cell phones would produce the high function retro-Brick phone. Could be the 'next Big thing'?
If cell phones do help with Alzheimer's (smells like marketing), maybe bypassing the microwave oven door interlock & sticking your head in would help even more...
microwaving an Alzheimer's patient - now that's a thought, uh, what a second, what was I thinking about ....
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisOh radiation, is there no problem you cannot solve. D'oh
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisI'm on a cell phone three to five hours every day and I've found in the course of....
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to this...in the course...I've found....
Crap. It's gone.
I know that in QST, the Radio Ham Magazine there are monthly reports of deceased "Keys".
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisMany of them have passed away, due to Leukemia, Blood Cancer, induced by close radiation (Some Hams have Kilowatt Transmitters).
So if you have a powerful cell-phone, expect the number of leukemia deaths to rise in, what are now the teenagers when they are nearing fifty years. They will not have Alzheimers but will be just as dead.
http://www.arrl.org/news/the-canaries-in-the-mine
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisSo you select your deaths from electronics engineers and then say electronics killed them? How about the rosin from soldering, or the endless hours sitting down, or the carbon tetrachloride they used to clean parts, or the carbon monoxide from the generators at field trips, etc etc. And I bet they all drank milk.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisYour lab technique sucks.
Cell phones emit electromagnetic radiation of low frequencies. The range of radio wavelengths is huge, and it might be difficult to pinpoint which particular frequencies help protect memory and which do not.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisThere is still no concrete evidence if long term use of cell phone would not be damaging to the brain. I remain skeptical, until and unless reliable and valid control experiments have been carried out for a couple of decades that would prove otherwise.
I read the canaries report. It says there is no evidence to indicate electromagnetic radiation is harmful, even to professionals in the field, who get diseases at the same rate as the general population.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisThanks for the info. I sent it on to the local EMF rant and rave crew. They won't like it, it doesn't reinforce their fearful preconceptions.
ANY FUNCTIONAL MRI STUDIES ON HIPPOCAMPUSES OF CELL PHONE USERS , DIFFERING FROM NON USERS??
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisDRAMITABH VARMA
Its not the radiation ,its the act of keeping the brain active that will prevent dementia....besides there are
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisstudies challenging the hypothesisthat excess portable phoning may help develop some brain tumors..
ANY STUDIES DONE USING FUNCTIONAL MRI ON THE HIPPOCAMPSES BRAIN THE SEAT OF MEMORY CONVERSION IN CELL PHONE USERS AND NON USERS AND ALZHEIMERS ?? IF AGE MATCHED HIPPOCAMPI ARE PRESERVED THAN THE ANSWER CAN BE READ WITH THE PRESENT STUDY
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisCool... This helps make sure people won't forget about their chemotherapy appointment.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisormondotvos,
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisThis comment "Your lab technique sucks." is a criticism, but uncalled for. Ennui was apparently pointing out an observation that many radio hams have Leukemia. He/she drew a conclusion that may well be correct, and there may be supporting evidence for it. She/he did not support that thesis with mention of evidence or links, though they may be known by the author.
Their tone was conversational, -perhaps with hasty conclusion, yours is adversarial, like a trial lawyer.
A primary aspect of science is careful observation. IF radio Hams do have leukemia in much greater percentage numbers that suggests there is a significant increase in leukemia and that bears investigation. Certainly, there is use of soldering and solvents, but Hams do QST for many hours and they do get significant EMF exposure.
Here's a red herring for ya. Jewish folks represent a very small percentage of the total population, yet they are a significant percentage of the Nobel Prize winners in science and medicine. By something like a factor of 80. And they are under represented in the presidents, as in "none".
So, there could be many sources for these correlations. You want to conjecture some for discussion? That factor of 80 is significant.