The missing mineral that predicts Alzheimer’s risk
Brain studies reveal lithium depletion begins years before Alzheimer's symptoms appear. Does lithium deficiency help trigger Alzheimer's? Your brain contains 27 different trace metals, but new research reveals that the level of only one of them plummets before memory problems begin. Harvard researchers examined post-mortem brain tissue and discovered that lithium — the same mineral mined for electric vehicle batteries and used as a mood stabilizer for some mental health conditions — drops to critically low levels in people with mild cognitive impairment , often years before Alzheimer's diagnosis. "The idea that lithium deficiency could be a cause of Alzheimer's disease is new and suggests a different therapeutic approach," explained Bruce Yankner, professor of genetics and neurology at Harvard Medical School. When his team fed mice a reduced-lithium diet, the ...
