In a recent study, conducted on female and male Drosophila – aka fruit flies, researchers found that supplementing with lithium resulted in:
- Increased life span
- Improved health over the course of that increased life span
- A reduction in triglycerides
- An increase in resistance to stress
According to the researchers, lithium does this by inhibiting glycogen synthase kinase-3 (GSK-3) and activating the transcription factor nuclear factor erythroid 2-related factor (NRF-2).
The researchers concluded that “the discovery of GSK-3 as a therapeutic target for aging will likely lead to more effective treatments that can modulate mammalian aging and further improve health in later life”.
This research builds upon a previous study that:
- Tested lithium supplements directly on C. elegans worms, and
- Observed how natural lithium consumption (water supply) affected the life span of HUMANS.
In this study, the researchers found “an inverse correlation between drinking water lithium concentrations and all cause mortality in 18 neighboring Japanese municipalities with a total of 1,206,174 individuals. They also found that exposure to a comparably low concentration of lithium chloride extends life span of C. elegans.
They concluded that when taken together, these findings indicate that long-term low-dose exposure to lithium may exert antiaging capabilities and unambiguously decreases mortality in evolutionary distinct species (aka C.elegans worms).
What does this mean to you?
Right now…not a whole lot. For two big reasons:
Reason #1
The most up to date research has been done on worms & fruit flies, and it will be a while before proper human studies have been completed…and even longer before your family doctor starts handing out scrips for lithium orotate.
Reason #2
All of the lithium / longevity research seems to use lithium chloride as it’s source of lithium. Which could be a problem when we come to doing human research.
- Lithium chloride is produced by treatment of lithium carbonate with hydrochloric acid.
- Lithium carbonate (and to a lesser degree, so are lithium citrate & lithium orotate) is used for treatment of bipolar disorder
And as with most drugs, dosage frequently means the difference between a “good” drug and a “bad” drug.
In regard to lithium, dosage for bipolar patients is a true balancing act, between managing the symptoms of mania and it’s negative effects on the central nervous & renal systems. At high enough doses, lithium can be lethal.
Here’s where it gets interesting…
There is one version of lithium that has become popular in the “alternative medicine” world – lithium orotate.
While the research is limited, a 1979 study in the Journal of Pharmacy and Pharmacology found that lower doses of lithium orotate as compared to lithium carbonate may achieve therapeutic brain lithium concentrations and relatively stable serum concentrations.
That would mean that we might be able to get all the positives (life extension, better health, etc) of lithium supplementation without the negatives that increased dosages incur.
Of course….the science looking at the safety and efficacy of lithium orotate is very, very, very limited.
Hopefully, as more researchers (and drug companies) get excited about the potential use of lithium as a minor fountain of youth, the quantity and quality of lithium orotate research will increase.
Stay tuned.
Reference
- Cell Reports
- European Journal of Nutrition
- Journal of Pharmacy and Pharmacology
- Affiliate link to Lithium Orotate – $7.59 for 60 day supply
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