John Murray

This came out at the perfect time to be overlooked... but it shouldn't be. This is what journalism is supposed to be. Fine Gael haven't changed.

Harvard researchers have identified lithium depletion in the brain as a key driver of Alzheimer’s disease, opening the door to low-dose lithium treatments that may prevent or even reverse memory loss. For decades, scientists have sought the exact mechanisms that convert brain abnormalities into the progressive cognitive decline seen in Alzheimer’s. A major new study from Harvard Medical School suggests that lithium — a naturally occurring element essential for maintaining neuronal health and protecting against aging — plays a central role. The researchers found that as toxic amyloid plaques accumulate, they bind to and deplete the brain’s natural lithium reserves. This depletion helps explain why some individuals with significant plaque buildup never develop full dementia: their lithium levels may remain sufficient to provide ongoing neuroprotection. To overcome this issue, the team screened lithium compounds and identified lithium orotate, a form that largely evades capture by amyloid plaques. In mouse models of Alzheimer’s, low-dose lithium orotate, administered at levels roughly 1,000 times lower than those used for psychiatric conditions, reversed key disease pathologies, reduced plaque and tau accumulation, restored synapses, and fully recovered memory function, even in older animals with advanced disease. Importantly, this treatment showed no signs of the kidney or thyroid toxicity associated with higher-dose lithium therapies. While human clinical trials are still needed, the findings raise the possibility that routine lithium screening and early supplementation could transform how Alzheimer’s is prevented and treated. [Aron, L. et al. Lithium deficiency and the onset of Alzheimer’s disease. Nature (2025). DOI: 10.1038/s41586-025-09335-x]

Sudanese man Mohammed Akasha worked in over 20 different hospitals in Ireland before anyone decided to make him sit a medical competence exam. How many patients were put at risk? Was anyone harmed? Did anyone die as a result of his incompetence? Who discovered he was incompetent and how? Was there something he did or did not do that eventually aroused suspicion that he had lied? Why was he not vetted throughly at the outset?