Lithium in drinking water ‘may reduce likelihood of dementia’

Higher lithium content in drinking water may help reduce people's likelihood of dementia in the longer term, according to new research.

The University of Copenhagen study involved a nationwide assessment of 73,731 Danish patients with dementia and 733,653 control subjects, with the aim of determining whether lithium in therapeutic doses can modify the risk of developing dementia.

With animal and human studies suggesting that lithium may improve learning and memory performance, this research looked to ascertain whether incidence of dementia in the general population varied depending on long-term exposure to microlevels of lithium in drinking water.

It was shown that levels of lithium exposure were lower for patients with a diagnosis of dementia than for controls, with similar patterns found with Alzheimer's disease and vascular dementia.

The researchers concluded: "Exposure to higher long-term lithium levels in drinking water may be associated with a lower incidence of dementia."

In addition to vegetables, drinking water is a major source of human lithium intake, with some areas seeing higher levels of lithium in the water than others.

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