“New research links lithium deficiency to Alzheimer’s. After finding that dementia patients often have low lithium levels, a group of scientists tested the relationship using mouse models. In mice bred to develop dementia, a low-lithium diet worsened symptoms, while lithium supplements improved them. The results hint that lithium loss might not just be an effect of Alzheimer’s, but a possible cause,” reports The Doomslayer.
CNN adds:
Lithium is best known to medicine as a mood stabilizer given to people who have bipolar disorder and depression. It was approved by the US Food and Drug Administration in 1970, but it was used by doctors to treat mood disorders for nearly a century beforehand.
Now, for the first time, researchers have shown that lithium is naturally present in the body in tiny amounts and that cells require it to function normally — much like vitamin C or iron. It also appears to play a critical role in maintaining brain health.
In a series of experiments reported Wednesday in the journal Nature, researchers at Harvard and Rush universities found that depleting lithium in the diet of normal mice caused their brains to develop inflammation and changes associated with accelerated aging.
In mice that were specially bred to develop the same kinds of brain changes as humans with Alzheimer’s disease, a low-lithium diet revved the buildup of sticky proteins that form plaques and tangles in the brains that are hallmarks of the disease. It also sped up memory loss.
Maintaining normal lithium levels in mice as they aged, however, protected them from brain changes associated with Alzheimer’s.
If further research supports the findings, it could open the door to new treatments and diagnostic tests for Alzheimer’s, which affects an estimated 6.7 million older adults in the United States, according to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Another thing that could help with Alzheimer’s is the weight-loss drug Ozempic: “A small clinical trial suggests that drugs like Ozempic could potentially be used not just for diabetes and weight loss but to protect the brain, slowing the rate at which people with Alzheimer’s disease lose their ability to think clearly, remember things and perform daily activities.”
Other discoveries also are boosting the fight against Alzheimer’s. Last July, the FDA approved donanemab, a monoclonal antibody that slows the progression of early Alzheimer’s disease.
