Fight Depression With Lithium

by Roy C | February 19, 2009 at 07:36 pm

1457 views | 35 Recommendations | 18 comments

Below is a small part of an interview with Durk Pearson and Sandy Shaw, experts on human nutrition. Their fantastic book, Life Extension- A Scientific Approach, sold a million copies in hard cover two decades ago.

The explanations in that book and the experimentation that they cite are still useful, especially to those uninitiated in the valid scientific side of life extension.

I took this example, of lithium, from a longer interview, because what they talk about here shows that small amounts of nutrients can have effects that we never imagined, but which were actually observed historically- a real shot in the arm for empiricism.

Such is the case with lithium, perhaps known to some of you as a treatment of manic depression. A piece of the interview below:

Lithium as a Brain Food

Durk Then we have another unusual substance in our formulation: lithium, in small amounts—7 mg per day on an elemental basis. To explain its inclusion, let me start out with a bit of history. One hundred to 150 years ago, we didn’t have the kind of mechanistic medicine that we do now, where we often know what’s going on down at the molecular level. There wasn’t much knowledge, even 100 years ago, about why things went wrong, but there was a lot of empirical knowledge—for example, that nitroglycerin could treat angina. That’s interesting, but it was only a decade ago that we finally learned why it works (it’s broken down to produce nitric oxide).

In the case of lithium, the first clue that we got came from European health spas. Some mineral springs in Europe acquired the reputation of being able to rejuvenate old people: the springs made them feel better—made them function better—and improved their memories. They generally seemed to restore old people.

The way the idle rich went to health spas in Europe was very different from the way Americans go to health spas and get a massage and three days later go back home. Rich Europeans would go for a month or two, which was long enough that something in the water might have an effect. At these spas, in fact, people were encouraged to consume as much water as they possibly could. One of the most famous spas, with the best reputation, was in Vichy, France, and to this day, Vichy water is still bottled and sold all around the world, including the United States. It contains 3.5 mg of lithium per liter (Allen et al. 1989). There are some reasons for thinking that this might have some interesting effects. I might add that I have an 1892 Scientific American Cyclopedia of Receipts, Quotes and Queries, containing a formula for making Vichy water—synthetic Vichy water—which pharmacists would dispense in their drugstores because it made people feel better. And it has the same 3.5 mg per liter of lithium in it.

Lithium has some very interesting effects, and it doesn’t take a lot. Most people think of lithium as something you take at the level of hundreds of milligrams a day.

Sandy That’s when you’re taking it for bipolar disorder (manic depression), which requires a lot of lithium. You have to be very careful at those levels, because the therapeutic dose is not that much lower than the toxic dose.

Durk Those quantities are about 20 to 30 times as much as we have in our formulation. What evidence is there that a small amount of lithium would have any effect in human beings? There’s an interesting study that was done in 27 Texas counties over a 10-year period. Some of the people living there got their water from rivers, and some got it from wells, and there was a pretty big difference in the lithium levels between them. The researchers found that the people getting the higher levels of lithium had some interesting mental effects, even after adjusting for socioeconomic factors, urbanization, etc.

Sandy The suicide, homicide, and rape levels were significantly higher in the areas where the drinking water contained considerably less lithium than elsewhere (Schrauzer et al. 1990).

Durk With regard to nonviolent crimes such as theft and car theft, there was no significant difference, but the researchers did find differences in drug abuse. Although there was no significant difference in alcohol or marijuana arrests, there were statistically significantly lower rates of opiate and cocaine arrests in the areas that had the higher lithium levels. We’re talking here about 70 to 160 mcg per liter of lithium.

Sandy Exactly. So even at those very low levels, lithium obviously has mood-altering effects. With serious bipolar disorders, lithium treatment requires much larger amounts, but in the general population, such as that in this study, there were statistically significant improvements in violent crime and suicide rates with relatively small amounts.

Durk Also, there are papers showing that lithium is capable of lowering the neurotoxicity of amyloid-beta—the researchers used higher levels, such as those used in treating bipolar disorder (Alvarez et al. 1999; Phiel et al. 2003; Jope et al. 2002). But we’re talking about prevention, where a very small change in toxicity over a long period of time can, like compound interest, plausibly produce some pretty big results years later. Also, researchers have found that lithium causes the release of neurotrophic factors that induce neurons to repair themselves and grow rather than die off when they’re under stress . . .

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Fripouille

at 02:23 on February 20th, 2009

Fascinating article, which my French friends would appreciate (if only they could read english lol!)

The French are into mineral water big time, and some even drink two sorts, in order to get doses of various elements, including lithium.....

There is no doubt nowadays that these elements change our behaviour, although which ones do, or don't, and to what degree still seems to be a matter under study.

Time, and research, will tell...

harringtola

at 06:40 on February 20th, 2009

It appears in the interview that the book suggest that lithium could extend life (hence the name Life Extension- A Scientific Approach) not only improve mood because it causes neurons to repair themselves and grow rather than die off when they’re under stress. Did I read that right?

Roy C

at 09:20 on February 20th, 2009

Yes, if you read the whole interview. This interview is not from the book, which is out of print, but Durk Pearson and Sandy Shaw said:

"Durk Also, there are papers showing that lithium is capable of lowering the neurotoxicity of amyloid-beta—the researchers used higher levels, such as those used in treating bipolar disorder (Alvarez et al. 1999; Phiel et al. 2003; Jope et al. 2002). But we’re talking about prevention, where a very small change in toxicity over a long period of time can, like compound interest, plausibly produce some pretty big results years later. Also, researchers have found that lithium causes the release of neurotrophic factors that induce neurons to repair themselves and grow rather than die off when they’re under stress . . .

Sandy . . . such as brain-derived neurotrophic factor, which is one of the most important for protecting neurons from damage and preventing them from dying (Hashimoto et al. 2002).

Durk And, in fact, it has been found that lithium causes an increase in gray matter (Moore et al. 2000). The gray matter of the brain consists mainly of the neuronal bodies, and it shrinks—particularly as people get older—more so than the white matter. This is especially true in people with Alzheimer’s: they actually lose neurons. The gray matter shrinks because the number of neurons that are still alive diminishes.

Sandy Another thing is that lithium has been found to enhance neurogenesis of hippocampal neurons—in other words, the creation of new hippocampal neurons (Chen et al. 2000). That’s important because the hippocampus is the center of memory and the organization of all your memories, and it’s one of the few areas of the brain where it’s possible for new neurons to grow. So the fact that lithium can enhance hippocampal neurogenesis (at least in the rodent brain and cultured cells) is very interesting."

car1edb

at 15:05 on February 20th, 2009

Thanks Roy - I think I heard about this not long ago, seem to have some very +ve health effects.

Lithium wiki for medical use,

jazzyzazzy

at 18:21 on February 21st, 2009

Have you ever seen how a person on lithium reacts to the drug.I believe lithiam is administered to patients with manic depression.Which leaves the patient neither up or down in mood. It has been said they feel like zombies,after taking the drug.

jazzyzazzy

Roy C

at 18:38 on February 21st, 2009

Small amounts of lithium, the amounts found in Vichy water, about 4mg, do not cause drowziness as far as I know.

filesharejunkie

at 02:34 on February 23rd, 2009

Interesting, but CCHR's Psychiatry - Industry of Death Museum in LA has put me off going anywhere near any form of psychiatric drug, no matter the dosage!

cassuccino

at 12:51 on February 23rd, 2009

From what I gathered from this article, it sounds more like lithium naturally occurs in some areas. You may have some lithium in your tap water and not even know about it. The different medications can be really scary - especially once you hear about the different side effects, but I think most medicine has some negative side effects. Would you not take an antibiotic when you have an infection? Really, what makes psychiatric drugs any different, when used appropriately? I've never been to the Museum you mentioned, but I'm sure there are a lot of horrific things to learn there. Afterall, we used to do lobotomy's on people with mental illnesses and we still do ECT (Electro-Convulsive Therapy or Electric Shock Treatments) and both of those seem very questionable as to the safety and well-being of the patients... =\

cassuccino

at 12:41 on February 23rd, 2009

That's really interesting. I've been on lithium before (not for manic / bi-polar depression - it was being used as mood stabilizer) and I never really understood how it worked. You hear so much negative information about anti-depressant-type medicines (but especially with lithium) that it can be a little unnerving to imagine taking any of them. This made it a little more understandable. =) Since going off the lithium, I feel like I've become more irritable (like I was before going on it) and I've been contemplating trying it again.

Anyway, thank you for this really informative article. =)

Roy C

at 13:13 on February 23rd, 2009

I am about to try some lithium at the level I could get from Vichy Spa water, just a few milligrams.

Thanks for your interest and the comment.

To get my brain going at somewhere near a peak, I take a number of supplements. I will be writing an article about them.

Art_By_Alida

at 17:26 on March 6th, 2009

Lithium should not be used for "normal" depression...perhaps for persons wanting relief from bipolar disorder.....and only under the supervision of a physician.

A person must weigh the benefits versus the risks of taking Lithium.

Lithium is very very hard on the kidneys.

It can cause sexual dysfunction and a host of other side effects.

Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, and other forms of therapy are good for persons suffering from depression.

Depression is too broad a word to use for the different causes and types of depression.

Vitamins and minerals and the right diet are very important for good mental health.

I have a saying, "Food is mood."

Never take lithium without consulting a doctor.

Roy C

at 21:42 on March 11th, 2009

I have extensive experience doing primal therapy, and I have nothing against counseling. We are talking about basic mood. I use tyrosine and tryptophan to help my self cope with stress.

You might like to read that article again. All the people of Vichy, France would be zombies if lithium affected them so adversely. Their kidneys would have all failed at two liters of water a day with 7 or more mg of lithium.

Instead, what you see in the interview with Durk Pearson is that in Texas in the towns where lithium occurs naturally, there is a lower rate of violent crime, and less addiction to opiates and cocaine.

Nor does it cause sexual side-effects, either, at 7 mg. It just rebuilds the brain, the hippocampus to be precise.

Those doses that cause those problems are big doses near the toxic range that are needed for manic-depression.

sara star

at 18:12 on March 17th, 2009

A month later we are still taking about it. That is what I like about NP.

I hear you can get Vichy water lozenges ??

Roy C

at 18:21 on March 17th, 2009

I don't know about that, but at The Vitamin Shoppe you can get lithium orotate, a very safe form. and on-line you can get it at VRP.com and LEF.org.

sara star

at 16:18 on March 18th, 2009

I never realized it was a natural mineral found in some waters.

Art_By_Alida

at 14:25 on March 22nd, 2009

Depression, anxiety...everyone is different.

You cannot prescribe a mineral supplement to the general population.

Consult a doctor...a doctor of SOMETHING...but not someone who is only trained in primal therapy.

Sheesh.

Graham Marlowe (not verified)

at 23:18 on March 24th, 2009

I was prescribed Lithium in 1999. I have never felt more ill in my life - in addition to coping with depression, I had non-stop stomach upsets and vomitting attack. It is an old, unsophisticated toxic drug and it's only virtue to the NHS is that it is dirt cheap.

Discreet (not verified)

at 02:54 on June 18th, 2009

In most cases, the toxicity of Lithium are easy to identify and fatal to ignore. That's why studies such as this one is so important to open the minds of people about the hazards behind its calming effects.