Lithium extends batteries and now human life!! Can you Believe it

Now I read in the paper the other day about a couple of interesting facts (supposedly) about diet.

Firstly the low fat diet is out and could be giving us diabetes 2. It seems that information given to us for so long about reducing our fat intake and going for products including dairy, milk, cheese, yoghurt that are lower in fat. But now we are being told the fat in the dairy products helps to distribute the insulin around our bodies. So guess what low fat is off my menu and instead I am slowly introducting full cream milk and greek yoghurt into my diet and will see how I go with my weight. So far so good. I am watching my portions and trying to keep them down.

Secondly Lithium which has been used to treat Bipolar disorder as well as depression, mood swings, episodes of mania and other disorders can increase the lenght of our lives? How can this be so? " ithium has long been used as a mood stabilizer in the treatment of manic depression (known today as bipolar disorder). In fact, its first reported use was in 1949,1 when Dr. John Frederick Joseph Cade, an Australian psychiatrist, found that lithium carbonate operated as a mood enhancer in the treatment of manic depression disorder.

Lithium decreases mortality

Last January, we reported on a lithium study that heralded one the great advances in longevity for 2011 (see “Longevity and the Future” in the January 2011 issue). Researchers from Germany and Japan analyzed the mortality rate in 18 adjacent Japanese municipalities in relation to the amount of the trace element lithium contained in tap water from the respective regions.2 “We found that the mortality rate was considerably lower in those municipalities with more lithium in the drinking water [bold added],” Professor Dr. Michael Ristow, the lead researcher explained.

Longer life from lithium

In other words, a regular small uptake of lithium can considerably promote longevity according to the researchers and that even a low concentration of lithium leads to an increased life expectancy in humans as well as in a model organism, the roundworm Caenorhabditis elegans. In a second experiment, the scientists examined exactly this range of low concentration in the C. elegans and were able to confirm: “The average longevity of the worms is higher after they have been treated with lithium at this dosage [bold added],” Ristow said. “From previous studies we know already that a higher uptake of lithium through drinking water is associated with an improvement of psychological well-being and with decreased suicide rates [bold added],”

"Preserving And Renewing Brain Cells With Lithium

Medical students are taught that there is a slow steady loss of brain cells with aging culminating in gradual shrinkage of the brain. Lithium has long been known to be an effective therapy for Bipolar Disorder (manic depression) when taken in high doses. However, recent research has shown that low doses of lithium preserve and renew[1] brain cells. Eight of ten persons given lithium showed an increase in brain grey matter of 3 % after only 4 weeks. By promoting brain cell regeneration and increasing brain size lithium can function as an anti-aging nutrient for the brain.

Lithium also accomplishes the following benefits for brain cells:

Lithium enhances DNA replication which is the first step to formation of new cells. The damaging effects of excitotoxins. (monosodium glutamate (MSG), aspartame (Nutrasweet) etc. can be blocked by lithium.[2]

Animal research shows that lithium can decrease the areas of cell death after induced strokes by 56 %.

Lithium protects rat brain cells from the. increased levels of brain cell death caused by anti-convulsant drugs (Dilantin phenytoin , Tegretol, carbamazepine etc.) Lithium may protect against adverse effects from mood altering drugs, alcohol, tobacco, caffeine, 'uppers"and "downers", and marihuana all of which cause brain damage with long term use. Abnormally functioning signaling pathways may become repaired by lithium. The aluminum felt to be a possible cause of Alzheimer's Disease (AD). is chelated[3] by lithium so it can be more easily removed from the body.

Research has suggested that lithium blocks the secretion of beta-amyloid in Alzheimer's disease and prevents damage from pre-existing beta amyloid. Overactivity of the brain cell protein tau contributes to death of neurones in Alzheimer's Disease. Lithium inhibits this tau protein damage and the formation of the neurofibrillary tangles seen in AD. "

I am not going out to try this metal but will enquire further with my GP on my next visit because there can be bad side affects and self medicating is not a good thing generally.

And then to read another point of view see below:
"Lithium robbed me of my vitality and life! I used to feel excited and connected to the world and now after lithium I feel empty and alone. I used to be a good musician before taking the lithium poison but lithium made me a terrible musician. Before the lithium I was social and considered beautiful, now after the lithium I am a strange wallflower that is unattractive. Before lithium I was connected and engaged in life, now after lithium I am withdrawn,antisocial, and disconnected. Lithium is THE WORST medication in my experience. Lithium is a nonessential metal in the human body. Humans do NOT require lithium to live, reproduce, or function in any way. It is easy to get caught up in the hype of lithium. Lithium increases grey matter in the brain, it supposedly calms people down, it is "just a salt", criminals have less lithium in their hair -these are all things people say when promoting lithium. People often ignore the negatives and destructiveness of lithium. The truth about lithium is that is is a nonessential metal for humans and all living creatures. Lithium is a toxin. The average person has 5mg of lithium in their body, and the average bipolar person is given between 450mg-1200mg PER DAY! The amount of lithium given for bipolar disorder, any mental disorder, or the amount contained in lithium orotate or lithium aspartate (a supposedly "safe" dietary supplement, lithium orotate and lithium asparate are actually dangerous and unproven without sound scientific studies, and they are quite toxic) is completely an overdosing of lithium. Food has quantities of lithium in the MICROgram range, not the miligram range. Lithium is NOT required in milligram dosages, it is fine in MICROGRAMS but sufficient, and even excess lithium, can be acquired through the diet (aka food sources). Giving people lithium is like how the ancient Romans rubbed lead (Pb) on their faces for makeup and used lead water pipes. Using lead in makeup and in water pipes was toxic, and we now know that. Years from now, hopefully humanity will look back and realize that giving people lithium was a negative, illogical, and completely [edited per terms and conditions of membership; false, defamatory, inaccurate claim] teatment; choice.

Sources: http://www.newswithviews.com/Howenstine/james11.htm
http://www.life-enhancement.com/magazine/article/2785-lithium-promotes-longevity-mood-and-love
http://www.mdjunction.com/forums/bipolar-support-forums/general-support/10282069-lithium-sucks-lithium-ruined-my-life-lithium-is-poison-lithium-bad