Lithium Slows Pre-dementia
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A daily dose of 150 milligrams of lithium were given to half the participants in a new study of people with Mild Cognitive Impairment (MCI).
Encouraging Results
It seems that lithium treatment may slow the development of dementia. The study's results were just published in the British Journal of Psychiatry.
Researchers from the University of Sao Paulo, Brazil, carried out the small-scale study with 41 people. All the participants were over the age of 60 and had been diagnosed with Mild Cognitive Impairment (MCI).
After 12 months, the researchers found that all the participants experienced a decline in their cognitive function. However, the decline was significantly smaller in the group treated with lithium as opposed to the placebo group. Lithium treatment was also associated with a significant decrease in concentrations of phospho-tau - a major hallmark of Alzheimer's - in people's spinal fluid.
Previous research has shown that lithium can influence tau levels in models of Alzheimer's disease but small clinical trials in people with dementia have so far been unsuccessful.
The research team was led by Dr. Orestes Forlenza. He said,
"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."
What is of particular note is that no pharmaceutical company has a patent on lithium, meaning it is very cheap to prescribe.
'We know lithium has effects on the hallmarks of Alzheimer's disease in the lab but to date, clinical trials in people with Alzheimer's have not been promising. This study is the first to test lithium in people who have mild cognitive impairment, which can lead to Alzheimer's. These results are interesting as they suggest lithium could help slow the development of the early stages of the disease. However this is a small, preliminary trial and there are still concerns over the side effects caused by lithium.'
'We need more, larger clinical trials to test existing drugs like lithium if we are to find better treatments for people with Alzheimer's. Yet such trials are very expensive. We need greater investment in this area in order to help us develop better treatments for people with this devastating condition.'
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More Information
Research Reference: Forlenza OV et al. 'Disease-modifying properties for long-term lithium treatment for amnestic mild cognitive impairment: randomised controlled trial.' British Journal of Psychiatry 2011; 198: 351 -356
Source:
Stephen Adams, Medical Correspondent, The Telegraph, Telegraph Media Group Limited
Dr Anne Corbett
Research Manager
Alzheimer's Society
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Since my husband started having cluster headaches, he has declined. I did not notice slurred speech, but trouble concentrating, remembering, following instructions, could not learn new things. During a headache, he is just in so much pain, he just paces & does not want to be touched, & is combative even in the begining. When he was in the hospital last year, a nurse said her grandfather had Alzheimer's & then started having cluster headaches. That was the first person I have talked to that had both. Only .1% of the population has true cluster headaches. The meds used to try to prevent clusters & to abort are vascular constrictors which I would think contribute to the dementia.
Has anyone found a relationship between chronic headaches or cluster headaches with some mild cognitive or neurologic problems. We have often been told that there is no relationship between headaches and dementias, but the more people we read about the more we hear of people who have headaches with dementia or as an early symptom of dementia. I would really like to have more information about this. Did your husband have any speech or language problems, or did he have any repetative behaviors or confusion with the cluster headaches? Thanks for any insight that you can share-
My husband was diagnosed with cluster headaches ten years ago, and has been on lithium since. He was 53 then and working and productive, but then started declining. He was diagnosed with Alzheimer's type dementia at the age of 59, 4 years ago, and he is now in a home at 63 years old. In 2010 he started into his cluster headaches and the doctor raised his lithium to 900 mg a day, and his dementia got so much worse, he started being delusional and hurt a care giver because he thought he was trying to steal his dogs. So lithium has not slowed his downward decline. I wonder if there is any conection with the cluster headaches and the dementia.
Hi,
I hear your concern and your point about Lithium's causing deterioration of one's neurological function is well taken. In an article called "Lithium's Downside", published in 2007, it states:
As far as the cluster headaches and their connection to dementia, cluster headaches are often also referred to as vascular headaches. The intense pain is caused by the dilation of blood vessels which creates pressure on the trigeminal nerve. As I understand it, the exact cause of these headaches is currently unknown. Certain forms of dementia, such as vascular dementia, are caused by problems related to a person's vascular system. The vascular system is made up of blood vessels like capillaries, arteries and veins. Researchers now think that "Vascular Dementia Overlaps With Alzheimer's Disease".
As such, it would make sense that there be a correlation between the cluster headaches you mention, and the development of dementia later on even though I have not as yet seen this in the medical literature.
Dina