Washington, Jan 7 (IANS) A cell phone, much maligned for its radiations that might cause cancer, actually protects or even reverses Alzhemier's, says a new study.

"It surprised us to find that cell phone exposure, begun in early adulthood, protects the memory of mice otherwise destined to develop Alzheimer's," said Gary Arendash, who led the study and is a research professor at Alzheimer's Disease Research Centre (ADRC), University of South Florida.

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

The researchers showed that exposing old Alzheimer's mice to such electromagnetic waves erased brain deposits of the harmful protein beta-amyloid, besides preventing its build-up in younger Alzheimer's mice.

The sticky brain plaques formed by the abnormal accumulation of beta amyloid are a hallmark of Alzheimer's disease. Most treatments against Alzheimer's try to target beta-amyloid.

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

It involved 96 mice, most of which were genetically altered to develop beta-amyloid plaques and memory problems mimicking Alzheimer's disease as they aged, says an ADRC release.

Some mice were non-demented, without any genetic predisposition for Alzheimer's, so researchers could test the effects of electromagnetic waves on normal memory as well.

These findings were published in the Wednesday edition Journal of Alzheimer's Disease.