Researchers have identified a link suggesting that lithium may lower the risk of developing dementia, affecting nearly 10 million people each year. With more than 55 million people living with dementia worldwide, dementia is currently the seventh leading cause of death among all diseases and one of the leading causes of disability and dependency among older people worldwide. The study, led by researchers at the University of Cambridge, suggested that patients who received lithium were less likely to develop dementia than those who did not, although the overall number of patients who received lithium in the study is low. The team conducted a retrospective analysis of the health records of nearly 30,000 patients, all over the age of 50.
Their findings, reported in the journal PLoS Medicine, support the possibility that lithium might be a preventive treatment for dementia, and might be the subject of large randomized controlled trials.
“The number of people with dementia continues to rise, which puts enormous pressure on healthcare systems,” said first author Dr Shanquan Chen from Cambridgea’s Department of Psychiatry.
“It has been estimated that delaying the onset of dementia by just five years might reduce its prevalence and economic impact by up to 40 percent,” Chen added.
Previous studies have offered lithium as a potential treatment for those already diagnosed with dementia or early cognitive impairment, but it is unclear whether it can delay or even completely prevent the development of dementia, as these studies have been limited in size.
Lithium is a mood stabilizer usually prescribed for conditions such as bipolar affective disorder and depression. “Bipolar disorder and depression are thought to put people at increased risk for dementia, so we had to make sure we factored that into our analysis,” Chen said.
Additionally, the researchers said they expected to find that patients with bipolar disorder were more likely to develop dementia, as it is the most common reason they are prescribed lithium, “but our analysis suggested otherwise,” Chen said.
“It’s far too early to say for sure, but it’s possible that lithium may reduce the risk of dementia in people with bipolar disorder,” Chen noted, adding that more experimental and clinical medical studies are needed. to see if lithium is really useful in these conditions. .
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