Lithium, a drug used for decades to treat mental illness like depression and mania, could help slow cognitive decline due to Alzheimer’s disease, according to a new study published in the British Journal of Psychiatry.
Researchers in the U.K. worked with 41 volunteers over the age of 60 who had symptoms of mild cognitive impairment. Half of the participants were given 150 mg of lithium a day while the other half were given a daily placebo.
Over the following year, all of the participants continued to show a decline in memory and attention, but the rate of decline was significantly slowed in the group being treated with lithium. The researchers also found lower levels of phospho-tau concentrations – a biomarker used to identify Alzheimer’s disease – in the participants taking the drug.
"This study supports the idea that giving lithium to a person who is at risk of Alzheimer’s disease may have a protective effect, and slow down the progression of memory loss to dementia," concluded lead author Dr. Orestes Forlenza.
Due to the small study size, however, more research is still needed.