A team of researchers in China have published a study that suggests exposure to extremely low frequency electromagnetic fields (ELF-EMF) delays the development of Alzheimer’s Disease (AD) in rats. The study, titled “Improvement of Spatial Memory Disorder and Hippocampal Damage by Exposure to Electromagnetic Fields in an Alzheimer’s Disease Rat Model” was published in the journal ‘PLOS One.’
“The characteristic pathological changes of AD mainly include differing degrees of neuronal loss or apoptosis, senile plaques (SP) formed by extracellular deposits of amyloid-β (Aβ), and intracellular neurofibrillary tangles (NFT) constituted by hyperphosphorylated microtubule-associated protein tau (Tau) in the brain,” according to AlzheimersNewsToday.
During experimentation, a group of researchers from the Beijing Institute of Radiation Medicine, examined “AD rat models the ELF-EMF exposure combined with D-galactose intraperitoneal and Aβ25–35 hippocampal injection. Through this model, the researchers aimed to have a better understanding of the relationship between ELF-EMF exposure and AD development, to further explored its mechanism,” AlzheimersNewsToday reported.
For 60 days, rats with AD were exposed to electromagnetic fields at 50 Hz and 400 μT. As a result, the rats’ weight gain was delayed and their cognitive and clinicopathologic symptoms improved slightly.
“Based on the findings, the researchers suggest that more research is necessary to understand the molecular mechanism and fully assess the potential benefit of ELF-EMF exposure. Results from this study strongly indicated that ELF-EMF exposure could partially delay the development of AD in rats, according to AlzheimersNewsToday.
