Good News: Lithium May Reduce the Risk of Dementia

Scientists have observed a relationship that suggests lithium may lower the chance of getting dementia, which affects almost 10 million individuals each year in the United States.

The investigation, which was headed by scientists from the University of Cambridge, found that individuals who took lithium were less susceptible than others who did not suffer from dementia, despite the fact that the total population of participants who took lithium in the investigation was modest.

The researchers performed a retrospective examination of the healthcare data of more than 30,000 individuals, all of whom were above the age of 50.

Their results, which were published in the journal PLoS Medicine, supported the idea that lithium might be used as a prophylactic medication for dementia, and they suggest that large randomized clinical studies should be conducted to test this hypothesis.

Several prior research findings have suggested lithium as a possible therapy for all those who’ve already been given a diagnosis of dementia and perhaps even early cognitive decline; however, because the experiments have been conducted on a small number of participants, it is uncertain whether lithium can stall or even inhibit the progression of dementia completely.

It is often taken for diseases including bipolar affective disorder as well as depression. Lithium is an emotional stabilizer that helps people manage their feelings. Individuals suffering from bipolar illness and depression are thought to be at a greater risk of developing dementia, so we had to be sure to take this into account in their research.

The scientists also stated that they anticipated finding that people with bipolar illness were much more probable to have dementia over time, given this is the most prevalent cause for using lithium, but their findings revealed the contrary.

Despite the fact that it is much too soon to tell for certain, it is probable that lithium may lower the likelihood of dementia in those who have bipolar illness.