Stardust for the Synapses: Exploring the Utility of Low-Dose Lithium for Brain Health

Overview

A trace mineral found in the tissues of all vertebrate organisms, lithium is enjoying something of a renaissance – as research yields increasingly robust evidence of its nutritional essentiality and its therapeutic applications in modern neuropsychiatry.

Despite the increasingly focused spotlight shone on this fascinating mineral, however, lithium remains shrouded in a great deal of misunderstanding.

Arising primarily from erroneous conflations of pharmaceutical vs. low-dose “nutritional” lithium, such misunderstanding is both injurious to the field and those patients who might stand to benefit significantly from low-dose lithium. For – as research increasingly and consistently demonstrates – low-dose lithium’s clinical applications are vast, spanning neurodegenerative disorders, psychiatric illness, and suicide prevention.

This lecture will shine a focused spotlight on the therapeutic applications of low-dose lithium, bridging research, concept, and clinical translation with a special focus on Alzheimer’s, suicide prevention, and mood instability.

Objectives

1. Elucidate the lithium dose-response curve, as well as the differences between pharmaceutical and low-dose (“nutritional”) lithium.
2. List two or more clinical indicators of lithium deficiency.
3. Elucidate the differential applications, dose ranges, and safety profiles for lithium carbonate vs. lithium orotate, respectively.
4. Understand the utility of trace mineral hair testing