What Is Lithium & How Does It Help with COVID, Long COVID, mRNA vaccine injuries, Herpes, HIV, Alzheimer’s Disease?
I just finished this horrifying book called, “The Indoctrinated Brain”, by Michael Nehls MD, PhD. I’ve got to stop it with the reading. It’s giving me nightmares. Dr. Nehls has both an MD and a PhD. He’s a world class athlete, marathoner, cyclist, medical doctor, researcher, author, etc. Wikipedia basically describes Dr. Nehls as a lunatic so right there, I know I'm on to something. Classic Wiki move. He wrote the “Unified theory of Alzheimer's disease (UTAD): implications for prevention and curative therapy” in 2016 and several books on Alzheimer’s disease - in German. Fortunately, I also speak German.
That’s a total lie – I just have Google translator.
He links together Spike protein related illness (acute COVID, long COVID, mRNA vax injury) and neurodegenerative diseases (Alzheimer’s Disease, dementia, Parkinson’s, etc.) as having the same kind of brain injury – one which I like to medically refer to as "bananas for brains" (it's a highly specialized scientific term). He believes the cognitive deficits seen in this diverse group of conditions are the result of inflammatory changes which damage the memory center of the brain - a specific region called the hippocampus.
The Brain-Immune System Connection
The hippocampus is a big deal. It’s a big word that looks like a big animal with a similar name - but really the similarities end with the spelling. And for you Trivia fans, the hippocampus actually looks more like a seahorse than a hippopotamus. Definitely more horse than hippo.
The hippocampus is the hard drive of the brain. It’s a specific area in the temporal lobe where memories are stored. YOUR memory. If you wanna embarrass someone in a Spelling Bee, detonate this area of their brain first. Bad things that affect executive cognitive function and memory are associated with a well described volume reduction in the hippocampus. For example, Alzheimer’s patients have a 25% smaller hippocampal volume compared to controls. No good.
In addition to being an important cognitive processor, the hippocampus is strongly influenced by the immune system because of its dense population of ‘microglial cells’. Microglial cells are the resident immune cells of the brain. They are the most prominent immune cells of the central nervous system and are the first to respond when something goes wrong between your ears. When our immune system becomes active, all the cells with immune system receptors wake up and take action. Chatter happens inside the cells, inflammatory mediators are made and secreted by the cells – all in an effort to take care of the threat.
When our immune system goes off the rails, like in a ‘cytokine storm’ (think COVID or CIRS), those same cells take a beating. A cytokine storm is an immune system freak out. The panic button gets turned on and stays on. Lots of war chatter inside the cells, lots of inflammatory mediators being launched outside the cells, and lots of collateral damage created in the meantime. It’s like what happens to your kitchen during the making of Thanksgiving dinner. Total disaster. Because of its high density of microglial cells, the hippocampus is particularly vulnerable to situations where the immune system starts looking for its nuclear codes in a chronic inflammatory state.
Not unlike my inability to clean up after Thanksgiving dinner disaster, the brain isn’t great at repairing damage from a cytokine storm either. Inflammatory damage accumulates over time and areas with high microglial density are hit hard first. Translation? Memory gets trashed. Your memory becomes impaired because of chronic inflammatory changes that result in damage to the cells in the hippocampus.
The S1 subunit of the spike protein from infection and/or injection crosses the blood brain barrier as do poor lifestyle choices, bad genes, toxic foods, chemicals everywhere and they press the inflammatory panic button. Left unchecked, these divisive drivers of inflammation keep the fire rolling – until one day you wake up to find yourself eating pudding from a Styrofoam cup watching Sponge Bob from a locked room in the looney bin.
The pathways in the brain that go sideways and turn your melon into mush can be blocked by some fairly surprising interventions. I bet you can guess the first one. It’s the sunshine nutrient. The one we get absolutely none of naturally in the northern hemisphere of our globe for a solid six months or more out of the year. You got it - Vitamin D. That will get this post taken down for sure. Wiki says no to D.
The other one knocked me off my chair. It not only blocks inflammatory pathways between cells, but repairs damage within the cells, stimulates growth of brand-new neurons, and restores homeostasis or balance to the very center of the brain most responsible for memory. It’s a mineral in the soil and the water. One of the oldest minerals on planet earth. Any guesses here?
Lithium.
If you’re like most people, the word ‘Lithium’ probably doesn’t conjure up thoughts of rainbows, unicorns, or mental stability. In my business, lithium is often thrown in the mix of toxicity testing along with mercury, arsenic, and lead. Good Lord – that can’t be good for a person. Maybe you saw a bottle or 3 of it in your crazy aunt Linda’s medicine cabinet while snooping around in her bathroom as a kid. You for sure heard reference to it in ‘One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest’, no? I think most of us are familiar with lithium as one of the big gun meds handed to a person immediately upon arrival to Bellin Psych.
Yeah, no thank you, I’ll pass. But that’s probably about it.
Well, as it turns out, lithium is actually pretty important – at least when it comes to your brain function. If you care about protecting your memory, recovering from the past 4 years of spike protein exposure, or preventing Alzheimer’s disease, let’s have a chat.
What is Lithium?
Dictionary
Definitions from Oxford Languages
lith·i·um
/ˈliTHēəm/
noun
noun: lithium; symbol: Li
the chemical element of atomic number 3, a soft silver-white metal. It is the lightest of the alkali metals.
lithium carbonate or another lithium salt, used as a mood-stabilizing drug.
Lithium is widely known today as a ‘drug’. Something infused into the water of insane asylums. But it is actually a naturally occurring mineral. An essential element. Lithium is one of the oldest molecules known to our planet. It is a ‘nootropic’ or ‘brain supplementing’ mineral found naturally in our soil and water. It increases brain cell density and brain volume. Improves memory and mood. Low levels of lithium in the body are associated with depression, anxiety, poor stress resilience, and suicidality.
Lithium is a powerhouse of a molecule. It might not be too far off to think about it like those videos on YouTube showing tiny iPhone batteries igniting massive fires. I use that analogy not to emphasize anything flammable or chaotic, but to drive home the sheer number of pathways affected by lithium. There’s a lot. Sure, it is a potent nootropic, but also a powerful regulator of the body’s immune system.
Dictionary
Definitions from Oxford Languages
no·o·trop·ic
/ˌnōəˈträpik/
adjective
(of a drug) used to enhance memory or other cognitive functions.
noun
a nootropic drug.
Apparently, long before anyone had heard of SARS-CoV-2, it was understood that lithium reduced the infectivity of coronaviruses not only by reducing their replication, but also by modulating the immune system and damping down activity of important pro-inflammatory signaling molecules.
Lack of team players in the war against brain mush (i.e. vitamin D) allowed development of the infamous cytokine storm of COVID-19 to develop in the first place. This cytokine storm underlies the lethality of SARS-CoV-2 infection. It was not the virus that directly took the lives of so many, per se. It was the overblown immune system response that caused organ system damage and failure. This was known and published early on in pandemic days. Makes a person wonder why we STILL have no recommendations for interventions to protect us from infectious disease. (... Tony?)
In parallel fashion to vitamin D, lithium blocked cytokine production by the following:
Inhibiting viral replication
Moderating immune system response
Reducing inflammation that could result in cytokine storm production
A study out of Spain was conducted in 2021, published in 2022 demonstrating the lifesaving properties of lithium administration in acute COVID-19 infection. Researchers gave half of their hospitalized COVID-19 patients low doses of lithium and half of them placebo. The group receiving lithium were out of the hospital in less than a week. No one died. No one developed long COVID. It was over. Boom. The control group wasn’t so fortunate. Two of them died, many ended up in the ICU, and more still went on to develop long term sequelae of infection or long COVID. Wild. The results were all over headline news – you saw them, right?
Looking at the body from a systems standpoint is complicated – I get it. To muddy this even further, there’s a whole dog and pony show going on inside each and every one of our individual cells. Lithium and other trace minerals play critical roles in so many different pathways both inside and in between cells.
Brief History
You might think about lithium as a drug, but it is really a mineral. What are minerals anyway? Minerals are nothing more than elements—just like magnesium, selenium, iron, zinc, and so on. These elements aren’t just essential for your body to function normally, they comprise the entire universe, this earth, and everything on it.
First discovered in 1817, lithium has had an interesting history:
1929: Added to soft drinks and mineral water for treating hangovers. Used as salt substitute – lithium chloride used in place of sodium chloride
1949: Discovered to have powerful effects on mood
1970: FDA approved lithium carbonate in the US as a therapeutic
2002: Review in the Journal of the American College of Nutrition suggested a daily dietary recommendation of 1000mcg for general health and well-being
Mechanisms of Action/Reported Benefits
We think we have this all sorted out, but like most things in medicine we probably don’t. I’ll update this post next year. And the year after that. For now, we understand the beneficial mechanisms of action lithium has on the brain as follows:
Maintains healthy levels of brain derived neurotropic factor (BDNF – i.e. stimulates the growth and differentiation of neurons and synapses)
Increases anti-inflammatory effect of omega-3 fatty acids in the brain (decreases brain inflammation)
Inhibition of glutamate in the brain (most abundant excitatory neurotransmitter)
Enhances glutathione production in brain (strongest antioxidant in the body)
Inhibition of GSK-3 and IMP (pro-inflammatory pathways)
Upregulates GABA (calming neurotransmitter)
Improves mood
Improves executive cognitive function (learning/memory)
Enhances emotional balance (depression, anxiety, bipolar disorder, ADHD)
Behavioral support (treatment of addiction, alcoholism, oppositional defiant disorder)
Neurocognitive health (lower rates of Alzheimer’s disease, mild cognitive impairment, preservation of hippocampal volume)
Improvement in bone density/osteoporosis
Longevity (decrease in all-cause mortality, heart disease, diabetes, obesity, cancer)
Improvement in chemotherapy related brain fog
Epigenetic changes (impacts expression of more than 50 different genes)
Dramatic risk reduction of suicide in patients with history of bipolar disorder and depression
Lithium & Long Covid, Long Vax
"Neurological manifestations of long COVID exist as a major complication of COVID-19 post-infection, affecting up to one third of patients with COVID symptoms lasting longer than four weeks”.
A randomized, quadruple blinded, prospective trial was conducted in the US and published in 2023 investigating several potential therapeutic interventions for the treatment of long COVID symptoms. 50 participants were enrolled in the lithium vs placebo arm, 18-80 years of age. Patients who received low dose lithium reported statistically significant decreases in severity of brain fog, frequency of anxiety, frequency of headaches, severity of insomnia, change in sense of smell and taste, and performance on cognitive tests when compared to controls.
We often refer to long COVID and mRNA injury as two distinct disease states, but they are almost certainly two sides of the same coin. Researchers have coined the term ‘Spikeopathy’ to refer to syndromes caused by exposure to spike through infection or injection. Both infection with SARS-CoV-2 and injection of mRNA vaccines encoding the spike protein of SARS-CoV-2 lead to the accumulation of the S1 subunit of the spike protein in the brain resulting in nearly identical neuropathologic consequences. If low dose lithium has demonstrated efficacy in treating the neurological symptoms of long COVID, it is likely the anecdotal reports for its efficacy in successfully treating vaccine injury will be similar.
Bonus: Lithium apparently is also effective as an antiviral against other annoying pathogens like HSV and HIV.
“Recently, evidence has accumulated that lithium can also inhibit infection by DNA- and RNA-type viruses, such as HIV (human immunodeficiency virus), HSV (herpes simplex virus), infectious bronchitis virus, canine parvovirus, porcine parvovirus, pseudorabies herpesvirus, porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome, transmissible gastroenteritis virus, vaccinia virus, feline calicivirus and, recently, coxsackievirus B3.” - Spuch et al, 2022
Lithium & Alzheimer’s Disease
Alzheimer’s disease (AD) and its precursor, mild cognitive impairment (MCI) are leading causes of morbidity and mortality in the Western world. Unfortunately, we have literally nothing in the way of therapeutics to effectively treat these devastating conditions. For decades, drug development was based on the hypothesis that dementia was the result of deposition of misfolded proteins in the brain, called ‘β-amyloid plaques’.
In a German article published in 2015, biochemist Christian Haass hails the promise of an Alzheimer’s vaccine targeting these β-amyloid plaques as the second coming of Christ for those destined to develop the disease.
Love me a new safe and effective vaccine. They’re my favorite.
Until then, he says, our only hope to potentially sidestep this fate is to “Choose the right parents and die early”. I truly hope you love this statement as much as I do.
We know that these plaques are present in the brains of patients with dementia but are they truly causing the disease or are they the result of it? Scientists with functioning brains, like Dr. Dale Bredesen and Dr. Michael Nehls mentioned above, believe that dementia is the result of chronic neuronal inflammation and neuronal insulin resistance from shitty lifestyle choices – not protein deposition in the brain. β-amyloid isn’t even toxic! Studies have shown it’s actually REQUIRED for memory formation. As of 2018, Bredesen had amassed a measly 100+ case studies demonstrating that by correcting/managing behavioral, lifestyle, environmental, and genetic factors, Alzheimer's Disease can be reversed.
Several studies have demonstrated that low dose lithium can play a role in preventing and treating AD by targeting the same neuroinflammatory processes. Exciting shit.
Here is the statement from the ’Alzheimer's Drug Discovery Foundation’ last updated in 2016:
“After 3 months of lithium treatment with low lithium levels, a slowing of cognitive decline is observed in patients with Alzheimer’s disease.” -Haussmann, et al, 2021
The Nitty Gritty of Lithium: How Much, Which salt & Potential Side Effects
“Poison is in everything, and nothing is without poison. The dosage makes it either a poison or a remedy.” — Paracelsus, Swiss-German physician, botanist, alchemist, astrologer (1493-1541)
I seriously say this every day: Poison has a dose. In the olden days of lithium therapy there were a LOT of side effects. My very first clinical rotation in medical school was in the locked psychiatric unit of UW-Madison Hospital. I say in the unit and not on it, because after 3 months I was pretty sure I had become an inpatient there myself.
Atypical antipsychotics were just arriving on the scene. Zyprexa, or olanzapine, was all the rage as a ‘safe and effective’ alternative treatment for acute mania and bipolar disorder. Another ‘had we known then what we know now moment’...sigh. Will we ever learn? I digress.
Anyway, we were still dolling out plenty of the good old-fashioned stuff too: Haldol, Thorazine, and high dose lithium. These people almost always came in on police escort and – They. Were. Wild.
My very first manic patient was a real joy. She had decided to personally decorate the newly painted white walls of her hospital room with hieroglyphics she carefully crafted from her own feces. All while singing ‘Me and Bobby McGee’ intermixed with lines and lines of tax code. It was spectacular. Perhaps a recent business grad? I don’t recall the complete cocktail of everything my attending ordered for her on arrival, but I recognized the word ‘lithium’, and that stuck.
Somewhere in the middle of ‘Freedom’s just another word for...’, she was down. Down like the ton of shit she had just been painting the walls with.
After throwing several paper cups of pills at her artwork, she eventually conceded to drinking a ‘vodka martini’ containing 900mg of lithium and whatever other horse tranquilizers were ordered. A few hours later she drank another and it was lights out.
All that to say, Herculean doses of lithium will most certainly cause sedation. But that’s probably the least of it.
Side Effects of Lithium: High Dose vs Low Dose
Side effects of conventional or high doses (600-1800mg of lithium carbonate or lithium citrate) included much more exciting details.
High Dose:
Irreversible kidney damage
Irreversible thyroid disease
Weakness
Ringing in the ears
Blurred vision
Frequent urination
Excessive thirst
Tremor
Dry mouth
Vomiting
Diarrhea
Headaches
Heart arrythmias
Weight gain
Blackouts
Sounds fun.
If you weren’t crazy before taking lithium back in the 90s, I’m pretty sure you fit the bill now. Jeez.
Believe it or not, low dose or micro dosed lithium (500mcg-20mg of lithium orotate) is a completely different story. Now that I’ve scared the hieroglyphics out of you, here’s the side effect profile of lithium on the small scale:
Low Dose:
*crickets*
If I’ve learned anything in medicine, it is this:
Anyone can have any side effect from any medication.
On a person-by-person basis, any side effects are possible, but in general, low dose lithium is pretty boring in the adverse events department.
It is best to take EPA or omega-3/fish oil with lithium – both to prevent potential side effects and take advantage of the synergy between omegas and lithium.
The Lithium Salts: Lithium Carbonate vs Lithium Citrate vs Lithium Orotate
As a lone wolf, we refer to lithium as ‘elemental lithium’. The problem is elemental lithium isn’t stable enough to take by itself. It needs to be ‘stuck’ onto something else which acts as a carrier molecule. The carrier molecule stabilizes the elemental lithium and takes it where it needs to go in the body. The important part is that it needs to let the lithium go for it to do its job. The term ‘bioavailability’ refers to the willingness of our carrier molecule to Free Willy – or free lithium, rather.
Lithium is available in several different forms (referred to lithium salts), each with distinct characteristics, uses, bioavailabilities, and absorption rates: lithium carbonate, lithium citrate, and my personal favorite, lithium orotate.
These are used for different purposes and have different implications for users.
Let’s quickly review them individually:
Lithium Carbonate (Li2CO3)
Mostly prescribed for bipolar disorder and for treatment/prevention of manic episodes
Typically used in higher doses
Low bioavailability
Only available as a prescription medication
Higher ratio of lithium to carbonate but because it is less bioavailable, it requires higher dosing to reach therapeutic window
Higher dose requirements associated with higher potential for side effects
Narrow safety window
Requires monitoring of blood levels to avoid toxicity
Percentage of elemental lithium in lithium carbonate, roughly 18.8%
Lithium Citrate (Li3C6H5O7)
Similar dosing, side effects, therapeutic window, and bioavailability to lithium carbonate
Available as a liquid, making it a more suitable option for individuals who have difficulty swallowing pills
Prescription only
Percentage of elemental lithium in lithium citrate, roughly 9.92%
Lithium Orotate (C5H3LiN2O4)
Lithium orotate is a compound that combines elemental lithium and orotic acid, a compound naturally produced in the body
Available as an over-the-counter supplement rather than a prescription medication
Evidence for use in treating a variety of conditions, including stress, anxiety, depression, brain fog, ADHD, alcoholism, viral infections (HIV, herpes simplex virus/HSV, though less studied due to low profitability)
High bioavailability so can be used in lower doses compared to lithium carbonate or citrate
Percentage of elemental lithium in lithium orotate, roughly 4.28%
Side Note on Dosing:
Because lithium orotate is available over the counter, anyone can get their hands on it. Unfortunately, the labeling is often confusing when it comes to dose. The bottle might say Lithium Orotate, 5mg on the front, but say Lithium (from lithium orotate) 5mg, on the back. “Low dose lithium” is considered to be in the arena of 0.5mg to 20mg of ELEMENTAL lithium per day. So how much elemental lithium is in this bottle?
Get out your calculators, friends.
If lithium orotate contains roughly 4.28% elemental lithium, then you’re gonna multiply 5mg by 0.0428. Right? OK – so that gives us 0.214mg of elemental lithium. Pretty small dose. Lithium orotate 120mg is closest to 5mg of elemental lithium.
Some OTC supplements say ‘elemental lithium 5mg’ right on the back. They might even say ‘elemental lithium 5mg, from lithium orotate’ on the back. In either case, these folks did the math for us. That’s 5mg.
Public Service Announcement: This post is intended to be used for informational purposes only, not for personal medical advice. Please consult your physician to discuss any changes to your own health care treatment plan.
Food Sources
So, we’ve established that lithium is available by prescription and over the counter supplementation, but before we wrecked our planet with monocropping, glyphosate, and atrazine, we got our trace minerals (including lithium) from food. And water.
The following foods were historically considered to be generous in naturally occurring lithium content:
Thyme (highest food source)
Mushrooms
Kelp
Tomatoes
Sardines
Pistachio nuts
Water
Water used to be our highest lithium source overall depending on location. The government keeps track of test results found in several spring waters touted for their health benefits dating back many years.
The amount of lithium in drinking water has a dramatic impact on rates of suicidality – lower levels being associated with highest risks of suicide. They say the happiest places to live are in communities with the highest concentrations of lithium in the ground water.
Well, this explains California, anyway.
When To Take Low Dose Lithium
Conventionally dosed lithium is often split dosed or taken at bedtime as sedation is a common side effect. Low dose lithium is pretty null and void in the side effect department, so morning or mid-day is fine for most folks. Many people take low dose lithium ‘as needed’. Some only take it when they feel they need it (i.e. finding themselves getting hypertensive in rush hour traffic). Some take a low dose in the morning every day and then take a second or third dose later in the day if they feel they need more.
How Long Will It Take To See The Benefits From Lithium
Studies are still ongoing, but anecdotally, patients who report benefit from low dose lithium seem to notice improvement within a short period of time – usually 1-2 weeks. Some people feel it much faster - within an hour or less. Remember lithium orotate is highly bioavailable. That means the lithium detaches from the orotate quickly, enters the brain, and starts putting out fires.
Do I Need A Blood Test To Monitor
The general answer here is no. Conventional blood tests for lithium are typically not sensitive enough to pick up the low doses I’m talking about here. Some studies have utilized hair sampling to get baseline and follow up lithium levels as these are more sensitive than blood tests.
Conclusion
Congratulations for making it through another reallyyy long post!:) So much information here, but seriously – how exciting is this? In a world struggling with the aftermath of a pandemic, rising mental health challenges, neurodegenerative diseases, and devastating chronic illnesses across the board, what are the odds that a safe, simple, and inexpensive intervention might come to the rescue? The prospect of utilizing low-dose lithium as a tool to help us recover and move forward certainly brings hope. Emerging research underscores the potential of this modest element to not only bolster our mental health resilience but also to offer a protective shield against a range of conditions from COVID and long COVID to Alzheimer's Disease and beyond. It's clear that lithium, far from being the feared element confined to the realms of psychiatric wards, holds the key to unlocking a future where cognitive decline and mental health issues are not inevitable but manageable. While dosage and application will require some navigation, the narrative around lithium is undeniably shifting towards one of optimism and possibility. As we position ourselves to potentially redefine our approach to mental wellness and neuroprotection, lithium stands out not just as an element on the periodic table, but as a symbol of hope for millions seeking to reclaim their mental clarity and vitality.
Citations
Potential mechanisms underlying lithium treatment for Alzheimer’s disease and COVID-19
Lithium and Therapeutic Targeting of GSK-3
‘Spikeopathy’: COVID-19 Spike Protein Is Pathogenic, from Both Virus and Vaccine mRNA
Review of lithium effects on brain and blood
Lithium: how low can you go?
Disease-modifying properties of long-term lithium treatment for amnestic mild cognitive impairment: randomized controlled trial
Microdose lithium treatment stabilized cognitive impairment in patients with Alzheimer's disease
Lithium as a candidate treatment for COVID‐19: Promises and pitfalls
‘Spikeopathy’: COVID-19 Spike Protein Is Pathogenic, from Both Virus and Vaccine mRNA
Association between lithium use and the incidence of dementia and its subtypes: A retrospective cohort study
Lithium orotate in the treatment of alcoholism and related conditions
Efficacy and Safety of Lithium Treatment in SARS-CoV-2 Infected Patients
Association of Lithium Treatment With the Risk of Osteoporosis in Patients With Bipolar Disorder
Lithium's effect on bone mineral density
Beyond its Psychiatric Use: The Benefits of Low-dose Lithium Supplementation
Lithium: A Promising Anticancer Agent
Pathogenesis Underlying Neurological Manifestations of Long COVID Syndrome and Potential Therapeutics
Association between lithium use and the incidence of dementia and its subtypes: A retrospective cohort study
Lithium as a Treatment for Alzheimer's Disease: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis
Minireview: Lithium: a therapeutic option in Alzheimer’s disease and its prodromal stages?
