In the 1880s, a newly dug well in Texas became known as the “Crazy Well” after a woman who drank from it daily allegedly overcame dementia. Her legendary recovery has since been suggested to be due to the naturally occurring lithium in the area’s groundwater. This lithium-containing “Crazy Water” is still available to buy in the local town of Mineral Wells.
Strange as it may seem, the idea that lithium, a simple metal, might have a role in treating and/or preventing dementia is starting to gain traction. Starting next month, lithium orotate, a type of lithium salt, will be tested for the first time in people with early Alzheimer’s disease in a clinical trial at Johns Hopkins University in Maryland. This comes on the back of research published last year by Bruce Yankner at Harvard University and his colleagues showing that lithium orotate reversed memory loss in mouse models of Alzheimer’s disease, the most common cause of dementia.
Game that reduces dementia risk may clear amyloid from men’s brains Yankner’s team also found that the brains of people who died of Alzheimer’s disease had lower levels of lithium than those who didn’t have any cognitive impairment when they died. And earlier this year, a study of more than 2000 US counties led by Hyeong-Moo Shin at Baylor University in Texas revealed that counties with low levels of naturally occurring lithium in their public water supplies had higher rates of dementia than those with high lithium levels in the water. These findings don’t prove a causal link between lithium deficiency and dementia; however, they are certainly intriguing, and they have inspired many people to rush out and buy lithium supplements.
Is it too early to jump on this bandwagon? And are there any risks of boosting your lithium levels with supplements? Lithium is the lightest metal element on Earth and is named after the Greek word lithos for “stone” because it naturally occurs in rocks.
It is best known for its use in rechargeable batteries, but also has a long history of use in psychiatry, particularly in the treatment of bipolar disorder. Interestingly, the soft drink 7UP started out in the 1920s as a lithium-containing lemon-lime-flavoured beverage marketed for curing hangovers and boosting energy. No one knows why “7” was included in the name, but one theory is that it referred to the approximate atomic mass of lithium.
Since lithium is highly reactive, it is usually paired with other substances like orotate or carbonate to form lithium salts. Lithium carbonate is the type typically prescribed for bipolar disorder. However, Yankner’s team found that lithium orotate was far better for treating Alzheimer’s-like disease in mice.
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