With the atomic number 3, lithium is widely known as an alkali metal in the scientific community. However, when you move into the medical world, lithium is known for its clinical treatment for bipolar disorder. Lithium helps to combat the manic phase in bipolar disorder but no one is sure about how this exactly works. To make this simple to understand, I will break it down for you. Lithium’s actions in the brain will lead to inhibition of apoptosis (cell death) or stimulation of cell proliferation. I do not want to bog you down with all the science but if you do want a more scientific look at it, here is an image.
You are probably wondering right now, “if lithium is such a good thing, why is it not used for more diseases.” Well…researchers have been looking into the potential of lithium as a treatment for a multitude of neurodegenerative disorders including Huntington’s disease, Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease, etc. Researchers have found success in treating some of the diseases in animal models but success has not translated into human trials.
Although lithium seems like a good potential treatment for many neurodegenerative diseases, I believe that it comes with many consequences. Obviously, we have all learned too much of anything can turn into a bad thing but what do we do when we do not fully understand a good thing? Lithium has been used to treat bipolar disorder for the past 5 decades and we still cannot figure out how it does its job. Furthermore, if you look at the picture, you will notice that lithium can affect a whole bunch of other pathways. That is a lot of power for one simple alkali metal that I want no part of before I understand all of it. But as Uncle Ben said, “With great power, comes great responsibility.”
Lithium, More than Just Your Average Alkali Metal
