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theThreat of Dementia Looms with Age, with Many People Fearing Memory Loss and Other Physical and Psychological Side Effects of the condition. No Treatment Currently Existence, Purpose As Dementia Now Assign Over 55 Million People, with New Cases Increasing at An Allarming Rate-The World Health Organization (WHO) Estimates AnIncrease of 10 Million boxes annually-Much Research Has Been GEARED TOWARD FINDING ONE. DEVELOPING DEMENTIA DOES NOT HAVE TO BE INVITABLE THOUGH, AND NEW DATA MAY EVEN Provide Some Comfort to Those Prescribed has Specific Medication. READ ON TO LEARN More About The Treatment That Could DECREASE YOUR ODDS OF DEVELOPING THIS DEBILITING DIESEASE.

RELATED:Eating this Popular Food Can Lead to Dementia, Study Says.

Lithium is a Mood Stabilizer Used To Treat Mania in Patients with Bipolar Disorder, and While It Is Not Approved by The Federal Drug Administration forTreatment of Depression, it is often Prescribed "Off-Label," On the National Alliance on Mental Illness.

Findings Recently Published inPLOS MEDICINEFOUND AN Association BETWEENLithium Use and a Decreased Risk of Developing Demementia In People Over The Age of 50, After Controlling for Sociodemography Factors That Could Also Affect Diagnosis. Lithium Has Previously Been Suggested As a Treatment for Dementia, Purpose These Has Been Limited Population-Level Research to ITS Potential, The Study Authors Noted.

According toDiscover Magazine, The Drug Was Actily TheFirst Treatment Used for Mental Illness, HAVING BEEN DISCOVERED IN THE 1940S by John F. J. CADE. When the psychiatrist injected 10 bipolar patients with lithium, all of them improved. Now, The Drug Is Used AS The First-Line Treatment for Bipolar Disorder in the U.s., But ITS USE is accompanied bySeveral Side Effects Such As Headache, Nausea, and Changes in Mood and Appetite, As Well As Rarer Complications Such As Lithium Toxicity.

Researchers from the University of Cambridge in the U.K. Obtained Electronic Clinical Records Obtained from Secondary Mental Health Services in Cambridge and Peterborough National Health Service (NHS) Foundation Trust. A Total of 548 patients WHO HAD BEEN PRESCRIBED LITHIUM AND 29,070 PATIENTS WHO HAD NOT BEEN PRESCRIBED THE DRUG WERE INCLUDED IN THE ANALYSES. All Patients Were Over The Age of 50 and Had An Average Age of 73.9 Years.

Of Those Taking Lithium Over A Mean Period Of 4.8 Years, Investigators Found That 9.7 Percent Were Diagnosed With Dementia During This Period-6.7 Percent WithAlzheimer's disease, The Most Common Form of Dementia, and 2.6 Percent with Vascular Dementia, Another Major Form. THOSE WHO WERE NOT TAKING LITHIUM, IN COMPARISON, HAD AHigher Risk of Developing Developed Developed. OVER A PERIOD OF 4.3 YEARS, 11.2 PERENT OF THESE PATIENTS DEVELOPED THE Condition, 8.1 PERENT OF WHOM Were Diagnosed with Alzheimer's Diasease, and 2.6 Percent of Whom Were Diagnosed with Vascular Dementia.

Interestingly, Results Were More Pronounced in Patients Who Had Been Taking Lithium for Les Than One Year Gold More Than Five, When Compared With Patients Who Had Exposure Somewhere in the Middle (Between One and Five Years). Researchers Did Note The Relatively Small Number of Patients Using Lithium, Which Limits Study Results. In addition, 73 PERENT OF STUDY Participants Who Had Been Exposed to Lithium Had Mania / Bipolar Disorder. While Their Results "Were in the Opposite Direction," The Condition Has Previously Been Cite AS has significant Risk Factor for Demeny Diagnosis.

Lithium Could Have Potential in Other Neurological Conditions Such As Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis, Also Known As Lou Gehrig's Disease, and Stroke. Purpose for Alzheimer's Disease Specifically, Lithium Blocks has certain protein that is Directly Involved with the training of abnormalities in a patient's brain.

"THERE'S AN ENZYME CALLED GLYCOGEN SYNTHASE KINASE, OR GSK3, WHICH IS INVOLVED IN THE ABNORMAL Phosphorylation of Tau Protein, Which Makes Tangles in Alzheimer's Disease,"Rob Howard, Professor of Old Age Psychiatry at University College London, explained to Medical News Today. "Andlithium is a potent inhibitor of that enzyme ... this isn't the first study to have shown The Link Between Lithium Use and Reduced Potential Risk. "AE0FCC31AE342FD3A1346EBB1F342FCB

The tests on the survey of this association had mixed results, according toDiscover the magazineAnd some believe that lithium can be more beneficial as a preventive measure than to improve the cognitive capacity of existing patients.

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Research has shown a late promise, because studies have explored the potential for reducing risk of dementia simply starting your day with ahigh fiber meal or taking moreSauna trips. Although not everyone is prescribed in lithium because it is a serious drug explicitly used for mood disorders - and conclusions are not generalizable at the moment, these results keep promises for the Largest area of ​​dementia research.

"[O] Overall, when I looked at the document, I was very interested and excited about it because we are always looking new ways to understand and treat potentially, slow and prevent dementia" ,Christopher Weber, PhD, Director of Global Science Initiatives, Alzheimer's Association, told medical news today. "And it's just another avenue that scientists are considering ... reduce your risk of dementia."

According to researchers, new conclusions suggest that lithium could have potential as a treatment for the modification of the disease for dementia, but the hypothesis should be evaluated in other clinical trials.

RELATED:If you do not remember these things, it could be an early alzheimer's sign.