The Present State of Lithium for the Prevention of Dementia Related to Alzheimer’s Dementia in Clinical and Epidemiological Studies: A Critical Review

Nobuyoshi Ishii, Takeshi Terao and Hirofumi Hirakawa
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Nobuyoshi Ishii: Department of Neuropsychiatry, Faculty of Medicine, Oita University, Idaigaoka 1-1, Hasama-machi, Yufu, Oita 879-5593, Japan
Takeshi Terao: Department of Neuropsychiatry, Faculty of Medicine, Oita University, Idaigaoka 1-1, Hasama-machi, Yufu, Oita 879-5593, Japan
Hirofumi Hirakawa: Department of Neuropsychiatry, Faculty of Medicine, Oita University, Idaigaoka 1-1, Hasama-machi, Yufu, Oita 879-5593, Japan

IJERPH, 2021, vol. 18, issue 15, 1-9

Abstract: Despite the unavailability of essential anti-dementia drugs, lithium may inhibit glycogen synthase kinase-3 (GSK-3) and decrease beta-amyloid and hyper-phosphorylated tau. In this review, we hypothesized that trace to standard levels of lithium (i.e., corresponding to the therapeutic levels for bipolar disorder) may be effective for dementia prevention. Excluding three insufficient level studies, we obtained two and one excellent clinical studies on standard and trace lithium levels, respectively, all of which supported the effects of lithium for dementia prevention. In addition, we identified good clinical and epidemiological studies (four each) on standard lithium levels, of which six studies supported the effects of lithium. Moreover, of three good epidemiological studies on trace lithium levels, two supported the aforementioned effects of lithium. The number of studies were substantially small, particularly those on trace lithium levels. Moreover, studies on standard lithium levels were insufficient to establish the efficacy of lithium for dementia prevention. This necessitates accumulating good or excellent clinical evidence for the effects of trace to standard lithium levels on dementia prevention.

Keywords: review; lithium; standard levels; trace levels; dementia; dementia prevention (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
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