This article discusses studies from five countries showing that even trace amounts of lithium decrease all-cause mortality.
Decreased all-cause mortality does not mean that you will live forever, but it lowers the chances of dying from any cause. If in case someone develops a heart attack, stroke, or gets into an accident, there is a greater chance that they will survive that.
Lithium is an element found in soil and water. Doctors prescribe lithium for mood disorders like bipolar disorder and depression. The dose can range from 600 mg to 1800 mg a day.
I will cite the studies in this video from Europe, the USA, and Asia. They are from the UK, Finland, Texas, USA, Japan, and Taiwan.
I will present the studies from the earliest to the latest as the newer ones build on the previous studies.
So let’s get to them.
Lithium Lowers Crime
In 1990, a fascinating seminal study, Lithium in drinking water, and the incidences of crimes, suicides, and arrests related to drug addictions were published. [1]
The authors used data from 27 Texas counties from 1978-1987. They showed that the incidence rates of suicide, homicide, and rape are significantly higher in counties whose drinking water supplies contain little or no lithium.
In contrast, the reverse is true if lithium is in the water. Cases of suicide, homicide, robbery, burglary, theft, and rape were lower.
The water lithium levels range from 70-170 micrograms/L.
There are 1000 micrograms in one milligram.
Therefore, eight glasses of 250 ml a day, or 2 liters, amounts to .5 mg, or 1.36 mg, a day.
The More the Lithium in the Water, the Lower the Suicide Rates
Fast-forward to 2009. Investigators from the Department of Neuropsychiatry of Oita University in Japan examined lithium levels in tap water in 18 municipalities of Oita prefecture.[2]
The total population studied was 1,206,174 individuals.
First, they calculated the standardized mortality ratio in each municipality.
The expected standardized mortality ratio is the population’s standardized mortality ratio.
Next, they calculated the observed suicide rates in all eighteen municipalities. Then, they looked at the lithium levels in their tap water to see if there was any relationship with suicide rates.
In that paper, the Japanese authors were already asking how low lithium levels decrease suicide rates because these trace amounts of lithium are not enough to improve mood.
They cited a 2005 study by Müller-Oerlinghausen et al. in Germany, which showed even in poor responders to lithium prophylaxis for mood disorders, there is still a significant reduction in suicide attempts. [3]
The Japanese authors speculated at that time that very minute and very long lithium exposure may give protection to the brain; the brain may need lithium for proper functioning and to make new brain cells, which might explain the reduced suicide risk.
Time will tell that their intuitions were correct.
Lithium Extends Life Span of Roundworms
Two years later, the same authors from Japan conducted a follow-up study: Low-dose lithium uptake promotes longevity in humans and metazoans.[4]
This time, they studied the effects of low lithium doses on a tiny roundworm, about a millimeter long, Caenorhabditis elegans or C elegans.
Guess what they found? A low concentration of lithium chloride extends the life span of the roundworm.
So why study the worms if they already know that low-dose lithium can extend the life of humans?
That’s because worms don’t commit suicide, so there must be something that lithium does to living things that makes them live longer.
Their findings made them conclude:
“These findings indicate that long-term low-dose exposure to lithium may exert anti-aging capabilities and unambiguously decreases mortality in evolutionary distinct species.”[4]
Lithium Lowers All-Cause Mortality In Severe Bipolar Disorders
Next is a study from Finland published by the Journal of Affective Disorders in 2015.
Lithium is associated with a decrease in all-cause and suicide mortality in high-risk bipolar patients: A nationwide registry-based prospective cohort study.
What’s new in the study? The authors upped the ante. The study population included only severe cases of mood disorders. How severe?
They all attempted suicide.
They studied 826 bipolar patients hospitalized in Finland between 1996-2003 because of a suicide attempt. The authors followed them for about 3.5 years.[5]
What the authors wanted to know is:
- How many would attempt suicide, which would lead to hospitalization?
- How many would die from suicide?
- What will be the overall mortality or all-cause mortality?
As you can see, they were trying to verify if lithium can lower all-cause mortality in humans, just like the Japanese study on the roundworms.
Lithium Extends Life Better than Other Medications to Improve Mood
Aside from lithium, some of the 826 patients hospitalized patients were on other psychiatric medications like antipsychotics, valproic acid, antidepressants, and benzodiazepines.
They found that those who use valproic acid, antidepressants, and benzodiazepines were associated with an increased risk of attempted suicide.
Lithium was associated with a lower risk of suicide attempts and significantly decreased suicide mortality.
Concerning all-cause mortality, lithium decreased all-cause mortality by 49%.
In summary, this study showed that lithium decreases suicide rates and lowers suicide and all-cause mortality in high-risk bipolar patients hospitalized who have already attempted suicide.
Lithium: The Equal-Opportunity All-Cause Mortality Lowering Element
But what about people with no mood disorders? Will lithium lower their risk of dying, too?
The following study, this time from Texas in the USA, will answer that.
Recall that the previous Japanese study mentioned included eighteen municipalities. This study, which included 232 counties, showed that lithium concentrations in tap water were associated with lower all-cause mortality (r = -0.18, p = 0.006, 232 counties).[6]
The level of education, employment, and income of the study population may affect the study’s results. Not so in lithium’s case.
In this study, lithium decreases all-cause mortality no matter what your level of education, whether you work or not, and it does so for the rich and the poor.
To recap, we have seen studies that show that lithium lowers all-cause mortality in trace amounts and prescription doses among those with and without mood disorders, regardless of educational level, income, and employment.
Lithium and Chronic Illnesses
What about those with chronic conditions? Will lithium also work?
The following study entitled Lithium treatment extends human lifespan: findings from the UK Biobank. The authors are from Germany and Switzerland.[7]
The UK Biobank contains medical information on more than half a million individuals. The information includes medical, family, and surgical histories, lab work, EKGs, genetic data, and medical imaging studies.
This study’s results are in line with previous findings. Therapeutic doses (600 to 1800 mg/day) of lithium were linked to decreased mortality (p = 0.0017) in individuals with affective disorders.
People with affective disorders may have other risk factors like diabetes and cardiovascular diseases.
The same study found that lithium can lower all-cause mortality even in those with other chronic conditions like diabetes, blood clots, chronic bronchitis and emphysema, cancer, fractures, and cardiovascular diseases.
According to the investigators, lithium is the most potent factor regarding increased survival effects with a hazard ratio of 0.274 [0.119-0.634 CI 95%, p = 0.0023]).
That translates to a 3.641 times lower chance of dying at a given age for lithium users compared to users of other antipsychotic drugs.
Lithium lowers all-cause mortality and suicide rates better than other drugs.
The subsequent study, this time from Taiwan, followed 25,787 patients with bipolar disorder for sixteen years. Recall that the UK Biobank study only did so for 3.5 years.[8]
They established the expected mortality rates for three different conditions as a baseline.
Compared to a population without bipolar disorders, we get the following Standardized Mortality Rates.
The table below shows the increased all-cause mortality, suicide rates, and natural mortality among people with bipolar disorders. An SMR value of 5.26 means that people with bipolar disorders are 5.26 times more likely to have a higher all-cause mortality than those without.
If they are on mood stabilizers, the ACM, suicide, and natural mortality rates become lower. If patients are on lithium, then the rates go down further.
An Outlier Study
Not all studies show an association between lithium and a decrease in all-cause mortality.
A March 2024 study showed that lithium does not affect all-cause mortality. However, the authors used the number and length of lithium prescriptions.[9]
Now, just because someone gets a prescription does not always mean that the person will buy it or take it as prescribed, according to the authors, and I agree with that.
Conclusion
To summarize, Lithium decreases all-cause mortality in trace to therapeutic amounts. It does so independent of gender, level of education and income, and employment.
In addition, studies from different countries have shown the association of lithium with lower all-cause mortality in populations with and without mood disorders.
Ever since I have been reading about lithium, I started taking 5 mg a day. Who doesn’t want to lower their all-cause mortality? It also helps with my blood sugar. That’s another study.
Lithium orotate is available on Amazon, and I will provide a link below.
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References:
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- Schrauzer GN, Shrestha KP. Lithium in drinking water and the incidences of crimes, suicides, and arrests related to drug addictions. Biol Trace Elem Res. 1990 May;25(2):105-13. doi: 10.1007/BF02990271. PMID: 1699579.
- Ohgami H, Terao T, Shiotsuki I, Ishii N, Iwata N. Lithium levels in drinking water and risk of suicide. Br J Psychiatry. 2009 May;194(5):464-5; discussion 446. doi: 10.1192/bjp.bp.108.055798. PMID: 19407280.
- Müller-Oerlinghausen B, Felber W, Berghöfer A, Lauterbach E, Ahrens B. The impact of lithium long-term medication on suicidal behavior and mortality of bipolar patients. Arch Suicide Res. 2005;9(3):307-19. doi: 10.1080/13811110590929550. PMID: 16020173.
- Zarse K, Terao T, Tian J, Iwata N, Ishii N, Ristow M. Low-dose lithium uptake promotes longevity in humans and metazoans. Eur J Nutr. 2011 Aug;50(5):387-9. doi: 10.1007/s00394-011-0171-x. Epub 2011 Feb 8. PMID: 21301855; PMCID: PMC3151375.
- Toffol E, Hätönen T, Tanskanen A, Lönnqvist J, Wahlbeck K, Joffe G, Tiihonen J, Haukka J, Partonen T. Lithium is associated with decrease in all-cause and suicide mortality in high-risk bipolar patients: A nationwide registry-based prospective cohort study. J Affect Disord. 2015 Sep 1;183:159-65. doi: 10.1016/j.jad.2015.04.055. Epub 2015 May 8. PMID: 26005778.
- Fajardo VA, LeBlanc PJ, Fajardo VA. Trace lithium in Texas tap water is negatively associated with all-cause mortality and premature death. Appl Physiol Nutr Metab. 2018 Apr;43(4):412-414. doi: 10.1139/apnm-2017-0653. Epub 2017 Dec 5. PMID: 29206474.
- Araldi E, Jutzeler CR, Ristow M. Lithium treatment extends human lifespan: findings from the UK Biobank. Aging (Albany, NY). 2023 Jan 11;15(2):421-440. doi: 10.18632/aging.204476. Epub 2023 Jan 11. PMID: 36640269; PMCID: PMC9925675.
- Chen PH, Tsai SY, Chen PY, Pan CH, Su SS, Chen CC, Kuo CJ. Mood stabilizers and risk of all-cause, natural, and suicide mortality in bipolar disorder: A nationwide cohort study. Acta Psychiatr Scand. 2023 Mar;147(3):234-247. doi: 10.1111/acps.13519. Epub 2022 Nov 22. PMID: 36367926.
- Mutz J, Wong WLE, Powell TR, Young AH, Dawe GS, Lewis CM. The duration of lithium use and biological ageing: telomere length, frailty, metabolomic age and all-cause mortality. Geroscience. 2024 Mar 28. doi: 10.1007/s11357-024-01142-y. Epub ahead of print. PMID: 38539016.
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