Help for our aging memories? Yes, help may be on the way. A review published this month in JAMA Psychiatry (see here) suggests that an old drug, one that has been is use for 75 years, may slow the development of Alzheimer’s disease, as well as other forms of dementia, and even mild cognitive impairment. Now that’s news!

This idea excites me. Let’s break it down in semi scientific terms. Current treatments for Alzheimer’s disease target amyloid plaques and abnormal tau proteins, both of which are found in the brains of patients with Alzheimer’s. As far as I know, these treatments haven’t been very effective.

But that old drug I mentioned, the one that has been used effectively for another brain malady (known as bipolar disorder, or manic-depressive illness) has been shown to work on brain cells in a number of interesting ways that make those cells work better. That drug is lithium.

Experiments show that lithium stabilizes mitochondrial function and reduces oxidative stress. It also promotes the survival of nerve cells and the talk between brain cells (via synaptic transmission).  

To make the story even more interesting, we now know that Alzheimer’s disease is far more than just a disease associated with amyloid or tau accumulation. Brain cells in Alzheimer’s are vulnerable to mitochondrial dysfunction and impaired synaptic transmission, just the problems that lithium stabilizes. So it could it help for our aging memories.

Consistent with that possibility are a number of MRI studies of the human brain. Those studies found that lithium preserved gray matter and reversed illness-related atrophy of the hippocampus (that small part of the brain vital for learning and memory). Now that’s impressive! More gray matter and less shrinkage of our hypothalamus should improve our thinking and our memory. Other studies have shown that doses of lithium lower than those used for bipolar disorder can support the growth and survival of both developing and mature nerve cells. Even more help for our aging memories.

The distinguished authors of the article mentioned above (from the University of Pennsylvania College of Medicine, the Alzheimer’s Disease Data Initiative, the NIH, Oxford University, and Yale University) present far more data than I’ve mentioned here. They end with a number of logical conclusions.

First, the data from molecular, cellular, human imaging, epidemiological, and early clinical observations all strongly suggest that lithium may meaningfully slow cognitive decline. (The bits of information I’ve mentioned above clearly support that notion.)

Second, a specific lithium compound (lithium orotate) may be the preferred drug to use for delaying memory loss. That compound can be administered in lower doses than those used for bipolar disorder. Using lower doses of lithium would reduce the likelihood of side effects such as diarrhea, vomiting, drowsiness, muscle weakness, tremors, unsteadiness (See here).

Third, the compelling biological results reported in the article are insufficient to promote lithium use for dementia. The writers acknowledge that definitive and randomized clinical trials are required to determine whether lithium actually does slow memory loss. 

From a scientific perspective, that makes perfect sense. Clinical trials to determine whether lithium slows our developing forgetfulness are the next step. It just so happens that I know an elderly man, I forget his name, who would volunteer in a heart beat to participate in one of those lithium clinical trials. 

Would you? Remember, it might help our aging memories.

Note: The featured image of the stooped old man with a cane is by Mohamed_hassen from Pixabay.