Summary: A new study reports trace amounts of lithium in drinking water may slow death rates in people with Alzheimer’s disease. Researchers also discovered rates of obesity and diabetes are also lower in areas where lithium is present in the water supply.
Source: IOS Press.
Trace elements of lithium in drinking water can slow death rates from Alzheimer’s disease, Brock University research has found.
Rates of diabetes and obesity, which are important risk factors for Alzheimer’s disease, also decrease if there is a particular amount of lithium in the water, says the study, published recently in the Journal of Alzheimer’s Disease.
Postdoctoral fellow Val Fajardo and Rebecca MacPherson, Assistant Professor in the Department of Health Sciences, collected statistics on various lithium levels in drinking water in 234 counties across Texas.
Lithium is a water-soluble alkali metal found in igneous rocks and mineral springs. It is commonly used to treat bipolar and other mood disorders, but at much higher doses than what occurs naturally in drinking water.
The research team, which included Associate Professor of Health Sciences Paul LeBlanc, compared lithium levels naturally found in tap water with Alzheimer’s disease mortality rates, along with the incidence of obesity and diabetes, in the Texas counties.
“We found counties that had above the median level of lithium in tap water (40 micrograms per litre) experienced less increases in Alzheimer’s disease mortality over time, whereas counties below that median level had even higher increases in Alzheimer’s deaths over time,” says Fajardo.
The frequency of obesity and Type 2 diabetes also went down when the drinking water contained similar lithium levels, the researchers found.
Fajardo says he and his team focused on Texas because data on lithium levels were “freely available.”
Previous studies have demonstrated lithium’s ability to protect against Alzheimer’s disease, obesity and diabetes.
“However, we are one of the first groups to show that lithium’s potential protective effect against Alzheimer’s disease, obesity and diabetes may translate to the population setting through very low levels of lithium in tap water,” says Fajardo.
The Brock research comes on the heels of an August study from the University of Copenhagen linking high lithium levels in drinking water to decreases in dementia rates.
But Fajardo warns it’s too early to start advising authorities to add lithium to drinking water.
“There’s so much more research we have to do before policy-makers look at the evidence and say, OK, let’s start supplementing tap water with lithium just like we do in some municipalities with fluoride to prevent tooth decay,” he says.
Source: Dan Dakin – IOS Press
Publisher: Organized by NeuroscienceNews.com.
Image Source: NeuroscienceNews.com image is in the public domain.
Original Research: Abstract for “Examining the Relationship between Trace Lithium in Drinking Water and the Rising Rates of Age-Adjusted Alzheimer’s Disease Mortality in Texas” by Fajardo, Val Andrew; Fajardo, Val Andrei; LeBlanc, Paul J.; and MacPherson, Rebecca E.K. in Journal of Alzheimer’s Disease. Published online November 28 2017 doi:10.3233/JAD-170744
[cbtabs][cbtab title=”MLA”]IOS Press “Lithium in Water Associated with Slower Rate of Alzheimer’s Deaths.” NeuroscienceNews. NeuroscienceNews, 6 December 2017.
<https://neurosciencenews.com/alzheimers-lithium-8116/>.[/cbtab][cbtab title=”APA”]IOS Press (2017, December 6). Lithium in Water Associated with Slower Rate of Alzheimer’s Deaths. NeuroscienceNews. Retrieved December 6, 2017 from https://neurosciencenews.com/alzheimers-lithium-8116/[/cbtab][cbtab title=”Chicago”]IOS Press “Lithium in Water Associated with Slower Rate of Alzheimer’s Deaths.” https://neurosciencenews.com/alzheimers-lithium-8116/ (accessed December 6, 2017).[/cbtab][/cbtabs]
Abstract
Examining the Relationship between Trace Lithium in Drinking Water and the Rising Rates of Age-Adjusted Alzheimer’s Disease Mortality in Texas
Background: Alzheimer’s disease (AD) mortality rates have steadily increased over time. Lithium, the current gold standard treatment for bipolar disorder, can exert neuroprotective effects against AD. Objective:We examined the relationship between trace levels of lithium in drinking water and changes in AD mortality across several Texas counties.
Methods: 6,180 water samples from public wells since 2007 were obtained and averaged for 234 of 254 Texas counties. Changes in AD mortality rates were calculated by subtracting aggregated age-adjusted mortality rates obtained between 2000–2006 from those obtained between 2009–2015. Using aggregated rates maximized the number of counties with reliable mortality data. Correlational analyses between average lithium concentrations and changes in AD mortality were performed while also adjusting for gender, race, education, rural living, air pollution, physical inactivity, obesity, and type 2 diabetes.
Results: Age-adjusted AD mortality rate was significantly increased over time (+27%, p < 0.001). Changes in AD mortality were negatively correlated with trace lithium levels (p = 0.01, r = –0.20), and statistical significance was maintained after controlling for most risk factors except for physical inactivity, obesity, and type 2 diabetes. Furthermore, the prevalence of obesity and type 2 diabetes positively correlated with changes in AD mortality (p = 0.01 and 0.03, respectively), but also negatively correlated with trace lithium in drinking water (p = 0.05 and <0.0001, respectively).
Conclusion: Trace lithium in water is negatively linked with changes in AD mortality, as well as obesity and type 2 diabetes, which are important risk factors for AD.
“Examining the Relationship between Trace Lithium in Drinking Water and the Rising Rates of Age-Adjusted Alzheimer’s Disease Mortality in Texas” by Fajardo, Val Andrew; Fajardo, Val Andrei; LeBlanc, Paul J.; and MacPherson, Rebecca E.K. in Journal of Alzheimer’s Disease. Published online November 28 2017 doi:10.3233/JAD-170744
