alt Hacker NewsI'm surprised there was no mention (at least none that I found when searching) of the relatively recent research coming out of Harvard regarding the hypothesis that low levels of lithium in the brain are responsible for a lot of Alzheimer's cases.
The research is still in the very early stages (largely mouse models, though they did develop the hypothesis by looking at differences in human brain tissue post mortem), but to me my biggest fear is that little research will be done because the "cure" is a commonly available, non-patentable supplement, lithium orotate.
As someone in middle age with a family history of dementia, I've decided to start taking lithium orotate because the risk/reward profile looks so good from my perspective. Lithium orotate has been sold as a supplement for decades, and at those levels it is very safe with extremely-small-to-no chance of adverse effects (e.g. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S027323002...), so I figure the worst that can happen is I'm wasting my money, but I'd take that for even the small chance that it helps ward off dementia.
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I agree with your post and the well-studied safety of it in humans at appropriate doses :) but the study you linked is on rats; and so there’s probably another better study to link.
I experiment and take a small number of less-commonly-known supplements and those kind of studies _in itself_ should never contribute to “it’s safe for humans”.
Anecdata: my personal brain/body didn’t react too well to 1mg a day, I felt somewhat ‘sluggish’ and found concentrating harder, so I stopped after 2 days out of being conservative. Perhaps I’d get used to it, but for me personally, I was surprised at the effects of just 1mg so I didn’t want to continue taking it.
Interesting. I'm also taking orotate, and like the other comment here, it makes me very sleepy (so I'm taking much less than 1mg/day). Maybe that's the brain working to "take out the trash?"
Earlier today I read a comment here mentioning Dr Michael Nehls who writes about lithium and also dementia (highly recommend his books). Now that comment is no longer there. Hmmm.
Nah, lithium is only treating something that is occurring much deeper: low glucose transport in the brain.
https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC8772148/
This is why APoE e4 alleles are a risk factor, because they control glucose transport.
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41398-025-03550-w
The brain is just losing energy.
Every time I read about it and get jazzed I take it and feel awful. I’m guessing my brain chemistry is better without it.
It’s actually quite simple: 1–5 mg lithium orotate, vitamin D, omega-3 from algae with high levels of polyphenols, a daily exercise routine, and good food—not the processed crap you often get in the US. My grandmother is 94 and still mentally so sharp that she amazes me every time.
https://michael-nehls.de/