Lithium is a nutritional trace element that is also used pharmacologically for the management of bipolar and related psychiatric disorders. Recent studies have shown that lithium supplementation can extend health and lifespan in different animal models. Moreover, nutritional lithium uptake from drinking water was repeatedly found to be positively correlated with human longevity. By analyzing a large observational aging cohort (UK Biobank, n = 501,461 individuals) along with prescription data derived from the National Health Services (NHS), we here find therapeutic supplementation of lithium linked to decreased mortality (p = 0.0017) of individuals diagnosed with affective disorders. Subsequent multivariate survival analyses reveal lithium to be the strongest factor in regards to increased survival effects (hazard ratio = 0.274 [0.119–0.634 CI 95%, p = 0.0023]), corresponding to 3.641 times lower (95% CI 1.577–8.407) chances of dying at a given age for lithium users compared to users of other anti-psychotic drugs. While these results may further support the use of lithium as a geroprotective supplement, it should be noted that doses applied within the UK Biobank/NHS setting require close supervision by qualified medical professionals.

Lithium treatment extends human lifespan: findings from the UK Biobank / Araldi, E.; Jutzeler, C. R.; Ristow, M.. - In: AGING. - ISSN 1945-4589. - 15:2(2023), pp. 421-440. [10.18632/aging.204476]

Lithium treatment extends human lifespan: findings from the UK Biobank

Araldi E.
;
2023-01-01

Abstract

Lithium is a nutritional trace element that is also used pharmacologically for the management of bipolar and related psychiatric disorders. Recent studies have shown that lithium supplementation can extend health and lifespan in different animal models. Moreover, nutritional lithium uptake from drinking water was repeatedly found to be positively correlated with human longevity. By analyzing a large observational aging cohort (UK Biobank, n = 501,461 individuals) along with prescription data derived from the National Health Services (NHS), we here find therapeutic supplementation of lithium linked to decreased mortality (p = 0.0017) of individuals diagnosed with affective disorders. Subsequent multivariate survival analyses reveal lithium to be the strongest factor in regards to increased survival effects (hazard ratio = 0.274 [0.119–0.634 CI 95%, p = 0.0023]), corresponding to 3.641 times lower (95% CI 1.577–8.407) chances of dying at a given age for lithium users compared to users of other anti-psychotic drugs. While these results may further support the use of lithium as a geroprotective supplement, it should be noted that doses applied within the UK Biobank/NHS setting require close supervision by qualified medical professionals.
2023
Lithium treatment extends human lifespan: findings from the UK Biobank / Araldi, E.; Jutzeler, C. R.; Ristow, M.. - In: AGING. - ISSN 1945-4589. - 15:2(2023), pp. 421-440. [10.18632/aging.204476]
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Utilizza questo identificativo per citare o creare un link a questo documento: https://hdl.handle.net/11381/2951512
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