Dr. Howard Smith Oncall

Vidcast:  https://www.instagram.com/p/DNd6_L_NINg/Harvard Medical School research geneticists have discovered that a new lithium compound can effectively treat Alzheimer’s dementia.  Lithium within the brain normally protects and stabilizes brain cells. When this vital element is trapped by amyloid plaques, neurons degenerate leading to devastating cognitive decline.Using a preclinical mouse model, the researchers found that a lithium deficiency accelerates Alzheimer’s-type neuronal degeneration.  Providing these mice with lithium orotate, a form of lithium that amyloid plaques cannot sequester, reversed the brain cell damage and effectively restored the animals’ memories even for older mice.  This lithium compound is effective at a fraction of the dose required for management of psychiatric disease diminishing the chances of toxic side effects.These exciting findings may well offer a more effective and safer therapeutic approach to Alzheimer’s. Clinical trials will br needed, but the Harvard researchers feel