Posted by SLS on November 2, 2000, at 7:50:25
http://www.drkoop.com/news/stories/october/hs/mood_swings.html
Depression Drug May Help Treat Brain Diseases
Oct. 9, 2000
Lithium Factsheet
Medications for Mania and Bipolar Disorder
About Lithium Overdose
Charnicia E. Huggins
Reuters Health InformationNEW YORK -- Lithium, currently used to treat symptoms of bipolar disorder, or manic-depressive illness, may someday be used to treat degenerative brain conditions such as Alzheimer's or Parkinson's diseases, researchers suggest.
Dr. Gregory J. Moore, from Wayne State University School of Medicine in Detroit, Michigan and his colleagues analyzed the effect of lithium on 10 individuals with bipolar mood disorder. Bipolar disorder is a chronic condition characterized by emotional 'cycles' of manic highs and depressive lows.
After 4 weeks of lithium treatment, 8 of the 10 study participants experienced an average 3% increase in their total brain gray-matter volume, the investigators report in the October 7th issue of The Lancet. The gray matter is the outer layer of the brain involved in thinking and processing information.
"This is the first time a drug has been proven to increase gray matter in the human brain," Moore stated.
"This has possible future implications for the treatment of neurodegenerative disorders, such as Parkinson's and Alzheimer's diseases," Moore told Reuters Health. "Specifically, if one can prevent neurons from dying or even increase the number or size of neurons in the brain after there has been some neuronal degeneration, one could potentially slow down, halt, or even reverse some of the effects of these devastating diseases."
The researcher cautioned that even though these study results may be exciting, they "should be considered preliminary until larger numbers of (individuals) can be studied and until the findings can be replicated by other laboratories."
SOURCE: The Lancet 2000;356:1241-1242.
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