Overview
Monolith: A source of lithium — the lightweight element with heavyweight applications.
Lithium orotate is a mineral salt that is normally found in small amounts in all living things.
Orotate (orotic acid) is a biochemical substance made by all living cells. It is a necessary raw material for making the genetic
material: RNA and DNA.
Some evidence suggests that lithium may be an essential trace mineral.
Other lithium salts have been used for more than a century to
treat mania. During the past few decades lithium therapy has
become one of the mainstays in the treatment of ‘bipolar
disorder’ (manic-depression). A number of lab studies have kindled
interest in the use of lithium for treating Alzheimer’s and
other neurodegenerative diseases.
Recent work in the clinic and laboratory suggests the following applications for lithium orotate:
- neurodegenerative diseases: Alzheimer’s, Huntington’s, ALS, Parkinson’s, and others
- treating disruptive behavior disorders in children and adolescents
- preventing episodic impulsive aggressiveness
- protecting the brain from damage by alcohol
- treating kleptomania
- preventing symptoms of Fragile X Syndrome.
Furthermore, orotates (even those without lithium) have other useful properties:
- protecting the heart from arrhythmias
- reducing heart-attack damage
- stimulating production of red and white blood cells
- lowering mental stress
- eliminating nerve-damaging deposits of lipofuscin and ceroid pigments.
The therapeutic dose of lithium orotate (150 mg/day or less) is much lower than that of the other lithium salts.
Read Monolith™ Monograph
Lithium orotate is a mineral salt that is normally found in small amounts in all living things. Each molecule of lithium orotate
consists of a molecule of orotic acid in which one of the hydrogen atoms is replaced by a lithium atom.
Orotate (orotic acid) is a biochemical substance made by all living cells. It is a necessary raw material for making the genetic
material: RNA and DNA.
Some evidence suggests that lithium may be an essential trace mineral.
Lithium
orotate was introduced as a supplement by Dr. Hans Nieper, the
innovative German physician, who used it to treat depression,
headaches, migraine, epilepsy, and alcoholism. Nieper considered
orotates to be superior to carbonates, chlorides, sulfates, and other
negative-charged ions as bioavailability enhancers for minerals like
lithium.
Other lithium salts have been used for more than a century to treat mania. During the first half of the 20th Century, however,
lithium therapy fell out of fashion and was not rediscovered until 1949. Since then, it has become one of the mainstays in the treatment of ‘bipolar disorder’ (the current euphemism for manic-depression).
During the past ten years a number of lab studies have kindled interest in the use of lithium for treating Alzheimer’s and
other neurodegenerative diseases.
What we can’t tell you
In
the U.S. and some other industrialized countries, government agencies
like the U.S. Food and Drug Administration have adopted censorship as a
method for intensifying their control over supplement users and their
suppliers. Thus, FDA regulations prohibit us from telling you that any
of our products are effective as medical treatments, even if they are, in fact, effective.
Accordingly, we will limit our discussion of lithium orotate to a brief summary of relevant research, and let you draw your
own conclusions about what medical conditions it may be effective in treating.
Lithium and neurodegenerative diseases
In
1997 a groundbreaking paper appeared in the Journal of Biological
Chemistry, reporting that lithium interferes with a key process in the
brain that damages nerve cells in Alzheimer’s disease. The researchers
stated that “these findings could be exploited to develop a novel
intervention for Alzheimer’s disease.”
More recent studies in cell culture and lab animals have added weight to this prediction and found additional ways in which
lithium protects nerve cells and stimulates the repair of damaged nerve tissue.
In
a 2004 review of the subject, D.M. Chuang of the (U.S.) National
Institutes of Health wrote: “The neuroprotective and neurotrophic
actions of lithium have profound clinical implications. In addition to
its present use in bipolar patients, lithium could be used to treat
acute brain injuries such as stroke and chronic progressive
neurodegenerative diseases.” Examples of such diseases are Alzheimer’s, Huntington’s, ALS, Parkinson’s, and other less well-known conditions.
Other possible applications of lithium orotate
Several other applications for lithium supplements have come to light recently:
- treating disruptive behavior disorders in children and adolscents
- preventing episodic impulsive aggressiveness
- protecting the brain from damage by alcohol
- treating kleptomania
- preventing symptoms of Fragile X Syndrome (FXS). (FXS is a genetic flaw that causes certain forms of autism, learning disabilities, anxiety disorders, and mental retardation.)
Furthermore, orotates (even those without lithium) have other useful properties:
- protecting the heart from arrhythmias
- reducing heart-attack damage
- stimulating production of red and white blood cells
- lowering mental stress
- eliminating nerve-damaging deposits of lipofuscin and ceroid pigments.
Dosages and toxicity
Lithium carbonate and lithium citrate
(the salts of lithium that have been traditionally used to treat
bipolar disorder) have a poor toxicity profile — they show toxic
effects at dosages only a little higher than the medically effective
dose. ‘Bipolar’ patients, who usually use high doses of lithium
carbonate (typically above 900 mg/day) must therefore receive
professional guidance and testing for side effects.
In contrast, the therapeutic dose of lithium
orotate is much lower than that of the other lithium salts. The
explanation normally given for this is that the orotate form of lithium
passes through the blood brain barrier far more easily than do the
chloride or citrate forms; therefore much smaller doses of the orotate
can be used (150 mg/day or less), resulting in lower, nontoxic
concentrations of lithium throughout rest of the body.
Availability
Although
the lally-gaggers who control the world’s clinical research programs
have yet to conduct a clinical trial of lithium as a prevention or
treatment for Alzheimer’s or for any other neurodegenerative disorder,
we needn’t wait for them to get their act together. Lithium orotate is
available as a nutritional supplement.
Conclusion
Are lithium orotate supplements useful for the conditions and purposes mentioned above? We aren’t allowed to tell you, so
you should take a look at some of the references cited here, and then decide for yourself.
References
[1] Deliberations
and evaluations of the approaches, endpoints and paradigms for dietary
recommendations of the other trace elements. J Nutr. 1996 Sep; 126(9 Suppl):2452S-2459S Uthus EO, Seaborn CD
[2] Lithium pharmacology Wikipedia website
[3] Glycogen synthase kinase-3 in neurodegeneration and neuroprotection: lessons from lithium. Curr Alzheimer Res. 2007 Feb; 4(1):21-31 Aghdam SY, Barger SW
[4] Amyloid-Based interventions in Alzheimer's disease. CNS Spectr. 2007 Jan; 12(12 Suppl 1):1-14 Kennedy GJ, Golde TE, Tariot PN, Cummings JL
[5] Lithium reduces tau phosphorylation by inhibition of glycogen synthase kinase-3. J Biol Chem. 1997 Oct 3; 272(40):25326-32 Hong M, Chen DC, Klein PS, Lee VM
[6] Neuroprotective and neurotrophic actions of the mood stabilizer lithium: can it be used to treat neurodegenerative diseases? Crit Rev Neurobiol. 2004; 16(1-2):83-90 Chuang DM
[7] Systematic review of pharmacotherapy of disruptive behavior disorders in children and adolescents. Psychopharmacology (Berl). 2007 Mar; 191(1):127-40 Ipser J, Stein DJ
[8] [Therapy with lithium salts in child and adolescent psychiatry--clinical efficacy and practical recommendations] Z Kinder Jugendpsychiatr Psychother. 2006 May; 34:181-8; quiz 188-9 Gerlach M, Baving L, Fegert J
[9] Lithium protects ethanol-induced neuronal apoptosis. Biochem Biophys Res Commun. 2006 Dec; 350 :905-910
[10] Understanding and treating kleptomania: new models and new treatments. Isr J Psychiatry Relat Sci. 2006 ; 43:81-7 Grant JE
[11] Recent advances in fragile X: a model for autism and neurodegeneration. Curr Opin Psychiatry. 2005 Sep; 18(5):490-6 Hagerman RJ, Ono MY, Hagerman PJ
[12] [Orotic acid as a metabolic agent] Vestn Ross Akad Med Nauk. 2002; (2):39-41 Stepura OB, Tomaeva FE, Zvereva TV
[13] Brain lipofuscinolysis and ceroidolysis--to be or not to be. Gerontology. 1995; 41 Suppl 2:271-81 Riga D, Riga S
[14] Lithium Orotate Works! Lithium-Orotate website
