Possible cure for alzheimers
The team at Harvard Medical School believe they may have found a drug that can prevent and even reverse the crippling effects of the disease.
Their findings are based on 10 years of research, which includes tests on lab mice and also analysis of human brain tissue and blood samples. Pic: Solskin/Getty Images
A new report published in the New York Post, shows researchers found that a loss of 'lithium', a mineral which occurs naturally in the brain, is one of the earliest indicators of the onset of Alzheimer's, and adding lithium protects it from deteriorating.
Bruce Yankner, professor of genetics and neurology in the Blavatnik Institute in Harvard says 'The idea that lithium deficiency could be a cause of Alzheimer's disease is new and suggests a different therapeutic approach,'
In the experiments, mice were treated with lithium orotate. Researchers found that the treatment prevented brain cell damage, and restored memory, even in older mice with an advanced form of alzheimers. Elderly couple – Pic: Katarzyna Grabowska/Unsplash
Professor Yankner said 'What impresses me the most about lithium is the widespread effect it has on the various manifestations of Alzheimer's. I really have not seen anything quite like it in all my years of working on this disease'.
These promising results may potentially provide a new standard for early diagnosis, prevention, and treatment, and another finding to come out of the study was that maintaining stable levels of lithium in early life, can prevent the onset of Alzheimers altogether. Boston, MA – August 4: Liviu Aron, an author of a recent medical paper detailing findings about lithium's connection to Alzheimer's disease, examines preparations of human brain samples for analysis in the Harvard research lab on August 4, 2025. (Photo by Heather Diehl/The Boston Globe via Getty Images)
The findings also support previous population studies that revealed that higher lithium levels in the environment, particularly in drinking water, correlated with lower rates of dementia in those areas.
Alzheimer's has baffled the medical community for decades as the disease and its causes are far from uniform across the board, with many people with amyloid protein buildup showing no signs of cognitive decline, and others developing the disease. Boston, MA – August 4: Dr. Bruce Yankner poses for a portrait in his office next to a photograph of a brain with Alzheimers on August 4, 2025. (Photo by Heather Diehl/The Boston Globe via Getty Images)
Though genetic and environmental factors play a role, scientists are unsure why the disease develops in some with these factors and not others.
Now doctors believe they may have found the critical missing link and a possible cure for Alzheimers.
In conclusion, Professor Yankner expressed his hopes that litium will do something 'more fundamental than anti-amyloid or anti-tau therapies, not just lessening but reversing cognitive decline and improving patients' lives.'
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